


You Can Stretch Right Up and Touch the Sky

by EndlessRain



Series: Go Out and See What You Can Find [1]
Category: Supernatural
Genre: AU, Alternate Universe - Human, Alternate Universe - Summer Camp, Artist Castiel, Bisexuality, Camping, Crushes, Cute Kids, Kid Fic, M/M, Meddling, Romance, Slow Build, Summer Camp
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-01-24
Updated: 2014-05-05
Packaged: 2018-01-09 20:33:32
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 57,530
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1150500
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EndlessRain/pseuds/EndlessRain
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The thing about summers is that they seem like they last forever, then suddenly it's slipping through your fingers, and you're scrambling to enjoy the end. Dean learns that this is true for other things as well, as he works as a counselor at Camp Kripke, the summer after high school. In an enclosed environment like Kripke, rumors fly faster than the zip line, and suddenly everyone's talking about him and the attractive head chef.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The S'more the Merrier

**Author's Note:**

> 1\. I don't have a set schedule for updates, but I'll try to post a new chapter at least every week and a half.
> 
> 2\. For the sake of the work, Sam and Dean are 5 years apart, rather than 4. 
> 
> 3\. Currently not rated, but will probably be rated M later on. 
> 
> 4\. Title from Mungo Jerry's "In the Summertime".

“Dean, I can’t believe you’re doing this to me,” Sam moaned. He threw himself back into the seat, glaring out the window. Sulking in the passenger seat of the Impala, with his body curled around him, he looked like the perfect image of a tortured teen. 

Dean huffed a laugh, and tried to not let his feelings get hurt. He was doing this for Sam, because he wanted him to have a good summer, not to piss him off. 

Dean took the exit of the highway, and shot his brother a look. 

“Dude, stop complaining. Plenty of kids would kill to be able to go to summer camp for the entire summer, instead of sitting around watching TV.”

To be perfectly honest, Dean actually had no idea if that was true. He knew that he never considered camp as an option for him as a kid, because he knew that they wouldn’t be able to afford it. 

It took some negotiating, but Dean managed to strike up a deal with his dad’s old friend from high school, Bobby, who was currently helping run the camp.

“That’s just it, Dean. Plenty of kids. I’m thirteen-goddamn-years-old! I’m gonna be the oldest one there!”

“You won’t be the oldest one there, shut up.” Dean said. “And watch your language, ‘m pretty sure you can’t cuss at camp.”

But Sam was definitely going to be the oldest kid there, and Dean knew it. The kids at Camp Kripke ranged from ages seven to twelve, and like Sam said, he was thirteen. Sam was technically too old to go to the camp, but it was all apart of Bobby’s deal. 

It took a lot of arguing and begging and pleading on Dean’s part, but Bobby finally relented. Dean will work for free the entire summer as a counselor if they allow Sam to attend for free as well. Bobby had acted like he was totally against the idea, but after the second phone call, he was all in. It took much more convincing on John’s part, who felt that both of their summers should be spent working. 

Dean pulled into the camp and grinned as the rickety sign greeted them. “Sammy, we’re here.”

Sam glanced up at the sign through his bangs and sighed. “Camp Kripke: Home of Family-Friendly Good Times?” Sam read. “Dude, I can’t believe Dad is making us do this.”

“It’ll be fine.” Dean assured him.

That was the other thing. Dean had thought that Sam would be excited about going to summer camp, so he lied when he presented it to him and said it was John’s idea. Dean thought that it could possibly smooth over the tension between his brother and John, but so far, it hadn’t. Well, all he had to do now was make sure Sammy had the best summer ever before he had to grow up.

Dean drove past the gardens, where Bobby was dutifully weeding his plants, and straight to the cabins. He had already been to camp the weekend before for training, so he was ready to go. He parked the Impala on the side of Cabin Terra, and hopped out. 

It was only Sunday, and the rest of the campers wouldn’t be there until Monday morning, but the staff was expected to show up Sunday afternoon, so they could settle in and get camp set up. For now, the camp was empty besides Sam, Dean, and the staff.

Sam moaned and groaned as he helped Dean dump his stuff into his cabin, but Dean didn’t mind. When they exited the cabin, he saw a shorter man with sandy hair leaving the cabin across from his-Cloud Cabin. 

Gabriel grinned when he saw the brothers, and held his arms out. “Dean-o! You brought my first camper!”

Oh yeah, he hadn’t told Sam that yet either.

“His camper?” Sam asked, drawing his eyebrows together. He was clutching his duffel bag tightly to his side. “I thought I was gonna be with you.”

Gabriel crossed the road and pulled Sam into a big hug. “Welcome to Camp Kripke kiddo! I know Dean says you’re not super excited to be here, but what the hell, I’m gonna make you have fun, anyway.” 

If looks could kill, the look Sam was giving Dean would be deadly.

“You said I was gonna be in your cabin.” Sam said slowly. “Am I not in your cabin?” He looked enraged. “I don’t want to be with him, I want to be with you. This is such bullshit, Dean.”

Dean looked sheepish. “Technically, I never said that, dude. I just said that we’d be both staying in cabins. And it’s true. You’ll just be staying with Gabe, and I’ll be over here.”

Gabriel was already walking back to his cabin, completely unphased. “Hey, I’m gonna get my clipboard so you can sign him in, be right back.”

Sam glared at his brother. “Well? Can’t you switch it? I don’t want to be with that asshole.”

Dean rolled his eyes. “He’s not an asshole.”

“I don’t care. Change it.”

Dean shrugged. “I can’t, little bro. My cabin is the seven to nine year olds. Gabe has the older kids.”

“Doesn’t that mean that your kids go home for the weekend?”

Dean grinned. “Yep. I get the weekends off, to spend in the sun with my brother. You guys’ll still have activities and stuff, but I’m sure Gabriel’s cool with us sneaking off together on Saturdays.”

That was partially why Dean picked having the younger campers. The other reason of course, was that Gabriel has a monopoly on the older kids. Apparently he’s been moved into Cloud Cabin since the beginning of time, and had worked there for about as long, too. 

During their training two weekends ago, Gabriel had explained that growing up, his parents had owned the camp, and that he went there every summer. Once he got too old to be a camper, he simply switched over into working as a counselor. Dean was a tad suspicious, since he knew that Bobby currently ran the camp, and Bobby was definitely not Gabriel’s dad, but he shrugged it off.

Gabriel got Sam signed in, and helped him put his stuff away in Cloud Cabin. Sam begrudgingly admitted that it was pretty cool that he got first pick on which bunk he wanted, but because he’s thirteen, did it with a frown on his face. 

Gabriel wasn’t kidding when he bragged that he was already moved in. Cloud Cabin was set up almost exactly like Cabin Terra, with a mainroom crammed wall to wall with bunkbeds, and a separate room for the counselor. There were posters of scantily-clad women on beaches and cars plastering the walls, to which Gabe shrugged when Dean raised his eyebrows and said, “Eh, I’ll take ‘em down before the brats get here.”

The door to Gabriel’s room was wide-open, and it definitely looked well lived in. The bed actually had sheets and comforter instead of a sleeping bag, and the nightstand not only had a really expensive alarm clock and iPhone sitting on it, but it was littered in candy wrappers and papers. There were t-shirts scattered across the floor and more bikini model posters on the wall.

Dean realized that when Gabe said he’d already moved in, he meant that he lived at camp. 

Dean helped Sam pick out a bunk bed (top one, obviously), and lay all his stuff out. Afterwards, the three trekked across camp to the dining hall for lunch. 

The rest of the counselors were already sitting at the staff table, waiting for their food. Charlie beamed when she saw him. “Dean! Did you watch Sherlock?”

Dean scooted in between Charlie and Jo on the bench, and shook his head. “When the hell would I have had time for that? You told me about it two weeks ago.”

She shrugged. “It’s ten hours of TV, I think you had plenty of time.”

“Nerd.”

Benny, the camp lifeguard, roared in laughter. “If anyone here is the nerd, it’s you, Winchester.” 

He didn’t know anyone at Camp Kripke besides Bobby before his training, but everyone already felt like family.

“Alright, alright, shut up. Guys, this is my brother, Sam. He’s gonna be in Gabriel’s cabin.” Dean said, gesturing to Sam, who was still standing, shyly.

“Ew, I’m sorry.” Charlie said, scrunching her nose. Gabriel rolled his eyes, and dragged Sam down to the bench with him. 

Soon, a man in his early-twenties poked his head out of the kitchen, and blinked at the counselors. His dark hair was messy, like he had been grabbing at it, and he looked like he hadn’t shaved in a few days.

He wiped his hands on his apron. “Sorry, everyone. The food will be out in a minute.”

The staff waved off his apologies, and he went back into the kitchen.

“He’s cute.” Jo blurted out. Jo was the only one who the same age as Dean. The rest of the counselors were all in their twenties, and sometimes Dean was grateful for someone around closer to his age. 

“He’s gay.” Gabriel shot back, almost defensively. “Sorry sweetheart.”

Dean wondered how Gabriel could have possibly known that, and for a moment he thought maybe they were a _thing_ , but he shook the thought away.

He didn’t want to admit it to himself, but Jo was right, he was cute. Like, ridiculous smokin’, actually. But Dean pushed those thoughts away because uh, no. After that whole fiasco with Aaron right before graduation, Dean had decided that it was probably just easier to go for girls, only.

The man returned to kitchen was several large trays of corn dogs, and Gabriel rubbed his hands together greedily. “Oh Castiel, you really do know the way to a man’s heart.”

Castiel rolled his eyes, and turned to set one of the trays down next to Dean, but the tray wobbled, and several of the corn dogs rolled off the tray.

Coincidentally, they rolled onto Dean, who just barely caught all three of them.

For the first time since walking out, Castiel looked directly at Dean. He blushed, and started apologizing. “I’m sorry, did they stain your pants?”

Dean laughed. “No, it’s okay Cas, I caught them, see?” He held up the corn dogs for evidence. “And it’s okay, because I’m really hungry. It’s not your fault that you’re just really enthusiastic about feeding me.” He winked, and set the corn dogs on his plate, but not before taking a really obnoxious bite out of one.

Usually in this situation, whoever Dean is flirting with would stammer and blush, and Dean would get a laugh out of it. Instead, Cas scowled at him, and snatched two out of the three corn dogs by the sticks and put them on his tray. 

“I didn’t make enough for everyone to selfishly eat three.” He snapped, and he set down the tray. “I guess I’ll have to start doubling all the food I order, we definitely can afford it.” He said, his sarcasm stone cold. He stalked back to the kitchen, and came back with a large salad bowl. The staff watched in silence, and Dean felt like he had just been chastised by a teacher. Seriously, what the fuck?

Once Castiel was finished delivering all the food, Gabriel burst into laughter. “Welcome to Camp Kripke, Dean-you pissed off the head chef.”

Son of a bitch. 

Benny joined Gabe’s laugh, and patted Dean on the back. “It’s okay, brother. He doesn’t like people.”

What the hell did Dean do to him? He was just trying to be friendly, and make sure he didn’t feel bad for spilling on him. Hell, it’s his fault for not being able to hold a tray straight, not Dean’s!

After everyone had finished up their meals, Dean said he had to go to the bathroom, and then he was going to go wander around camp.

“Just make sure you’re back at the mess hall by four, we have a staff meeting.” Gabriel reminded him, but the glint in his eye led Dean to believe that he knew what Dean was really up to. 

Good, because Dean wasn’t really sure what he was doing, so at least one of them did.

After walking with everyone out of the building he waited until no one was looking before ducking back in. Cas was inside, stacking up everyone’s dishes into a bucket.

“Hey,” Dean greeted, but Cas didn’t look up.

He slinked over to the table, and started gathering up silverware. Cas looked up at him slowly, and tilted his head to the side. “What are you doing?”

“Uh, helping?”

“Well, don’t. That’s my job.” He angrily stacked plates, ignoring Dean. 

“Hey, I’m gonna help you whether you want me to or not, so you might as well just let me.” Dean announced, plopping the silverware into the soapy bucket. 

Cas didn’t look at him. He took the bucket from Dean, and marched back into the kitchen. Dean stared, dumbfounded. 

Moments later, Cas was back out, rag in his hand. “Here,” he said, tossing the rag at Dean. “You can wipe the tables if you want to be helpful.”

Dean grinned, and went to work.

Cas wouldn’t let him go into the kitchen, because he said it was unsanitary, but he let Dean wipe down the table as he stacked and carried plates, and that was good enough.

“So, where’re you from?” Dean asked, handing him the rag back.

Cas shrugged noncommittally. “Nowhere. What about you?”

Dean shrugged, mirroring Cas. “Everywhere.”

Cas narrowed his eyes. “What does that mean?”

Dean snorted. “What does ‘nowhere’ mean? You gotta come from somewhere.”

The chef sighed, exasperated. “And _you_ can’t just come from ‘everywhere’. You have to have had come from somewhere, too.”

Dean shook his head. “Not me, dude. I come from everywhere. Just like you come from nowhere.”

It was small, and hardly noticeable, but the man smiled. Dean counted it as a victory. 

 

***

“Really Dean? Sucking up to the guy who makes your food?” Sam asked, when Dean burst into Cloud Cabin. Dean rolled his eyes. “Everyone knows that you went back for seconds, dude.”

“Shut up, bitch. He seemed overwhelmed, I thought I’d offer to help clean up.” He threw himself on one of the open beds. 

Gabriel raised his eyebrows, in a way that suggested he knew what Dean’s motives really were, and it wasn’t extra helpings of food. Dean fixed him with a glare, daring him to say something, but Gabe simply shrugged.

“He is pretty overwhelmed,” he said.

“Oh yeah? How come he’s the only one working in the kitchen?” Dean pretended he wasn’t that interested, more for Sam’s sake then Gabe’s. 

“We can’t really afford anything else.” Gabriel said, and Dean figured he meant ‘we’ as in the entire camp. “He gets two assistants on Monday, though, so that’ll ease some of the pressure off him.”

Damn. Dean knew that Camp Kripke was in trouble, financially, they didn’t really make it a secret at staff training, but he had no idea that they only hired one chef for the entire camp. 

Soon, Gabriel and Dean had to go to their staff meeting, so they left Sam to his books and sulking. 

Gabriel elbowed Dean as they walked to the firepit. “So. Crushing on the chef? Very naughty.”

Dean felt his face burn up. “I-what? No way, dude. I’m straight.”

Gabriel smirked. “Yeah, me too, unless I’m watching Doctor Sexy.” 

Dean was delighted, he’s never met anyone that liked _Doctor Sexy_ , MD before. “Whoa, you watch Doctor Sexy? What’d you think of the season finale? Maria is a total bitch right?”

Gabriel raised an eyebrow. “Right. Straight.”

***

After tossing and turning all night, Dean was standing in his cabin with a clipboard in his hand and a smile on his face: time to meet his campers.

He woke up late, so he missed breakfast, much to his disappointment. He told himself it was because he knew it would make him hungry later, not because of the cute chef. 

Christ, he was nervous. Why did he think this was a good idea? The only kid he had ever interacted with in his entire life was Sam, and maybe a few of Sam's friends. Sure, he could get along with Sam alright, but that’s because he practically raised him, himself. What if that was just a fluke, and all other kids hated him?

He was almost tempted to go pound on Bobby’s door and beg to be let go before the cabin door swung open and a beautiful woman with dark hair entered. She lugged a wheeled suitcase into the middle of the room and sighed impatiently.

Dean grinned. “Hi!” 

She sent him a cursory glance, but then stuck her head back out the door. “Hey, Ben? Ben! Hurry up, please!” Dean could hear some grumbling from outside the door, before a little boy shuffled in with a sleeping bag in hand. 

Dean looked down at his clipboard. This kid must be Ben Braeden, age 8. Cool, he can do this. 

“Hi, I’m Ben’s counselor.” Dean tried again, holding his hand out to the mother.

She shook his hand, wearily. “I’m Ben’s mother, Lisa. Are you the assistant counselor or…?”

“Nope. Full-fledged counselor, I’m afraid.” He turned to Ben. “Hey Ben, excited for the best summer ever?”

Ben scoffed. “How do you even know my name, dude?”

Uh, because Lisa had said it about twenty times? Dean was about to tell him this, but he stopped himself and said, “I’m psychic,” instead.

Ben rolled his eyes. “Whatever.” He looked all around the room, bored. His eyes caught on Dean’s door, which currently had a poster of the Rolling Stones hanging on it. 

“Dude! You like the Stones?” He turned back to Dean excitedly. 

“‘Course I do? You think we’d let you have a counselor with bad music taste?”

Ben jumped up and down, excitedly. “Can we listen to some, later?”

Dean made eye contact with Lisa. “Is that okay with Mom, here?”

Lisa nodded, and so Dean did too. “Then sure.”

Ben beamed, and threw his arms around his mother. “This is the best camp ever, thanks, Mom!”

Lisa stared at Dean. “He’s been complaining about having to go to camp ever since I told him about it. I wouldn’t have forced him to go, but I have to work, and this is a cheaper option than daycare. I can’t believe you got him to say something positive about this.”

Dean shrugged. He couldn't really believe the complete 180 that had just happened, either. 

Other parents and kids started piling into the cabin, all dragging suitcases and parents behind them. Dean signed them all in, and once the parents left, had six children looking up at him.

“Alright, guys, who’s ready for a walk?”

***

The sun was in the middle of the sky, and despite being early June, Dean was sweating. He had his boys line up, and took them across the camp to the covered basketball court, where he made them all sit in the shade. 

He had researched ways to remember kid’s names online because fuck if he’s ever remembered anybody’s name before. He’s so used to moving from town to town with his dad and Sam that he had stopped learning people’s name a long time ago. 

Anyway, he had found a game online that he thought was frankly brilliant. It had the kids go in a circle and say their name, and then describe themselves with a word that started with the same letter as their name. After they said their name, they had to repeat everyone else’s name and their alliteration. By the end, Dean goes around and says everyone’s name.

Basically, it’s a way for Dean to memorize their names, and trick them into thinking it’s a game. Awesome.

At the end, six pairs of eyes stared at him patiently, waiting.Okay, Dean could do this. 

Dean grinned. “What’re you all looking at?”

“You’re supposed to go next!” Kevin said, crossing his arms.

Okay, here goes nothing. 

“My name is Dean and I’m _delightful._ ” The kids giggled. “What? I am! Right. So you’re Kevin and you’re creative-which by the way totally doesn’t count-”

Half of the kids chimed in their agreement, while the other half shouted back in Kevin’s defense.

“Whoa, guys! I was really nice and quiet for you, why aren’t you being quiet for me?” Dean asked, holding up a hand to silence them. Immediately, the children all hushed,

“Anyways, so you’re Kevin and you’re creative, that’s Ash and he’s amazing, that’s Andy and he’s awesome-cool word, dude- that’s Garth and he’s ginormous,” Dean tried not to laugh here, because the scrawny kid was probably one of the smallest of the bunch, despite being one of the oldest. “You’re Victor and you’re victorious, and you’re Ben and you’re… well, I’m not gonna repeat what you said because that’s not appropriate. Fitting, though.

The kids all laughed at Dean for not wanting to say _badass_ , but he let it slide. He wasn’t about to get fired on his first day for cussing in front of the kids.

“So… now what?” Victor asked, looking bored. 

“We should play basketball!” Garth suggested, his eyes lighting up. 

Dean checked his watch. They had lunch in about an hour, and everyone was already settled in. Sure, why not?

He unlocked the ball shed, and divided the boys up in teams. Most of them were way too short to make it into the basket, and he’s pretty sure most of them had never actually played basketball before, but they were having fun trying to steal the ball from each other. 

Dean had tried to teach them how to dribble, but they weren’t really interested, so he shrugged, and sat at the edge of the court, and watched the kids.

It was warm out, and Dean felt pretty successful, so he let himself relax for a moment. He had done okay, he was pretty sure. The warm sun that had been previously shining behind him was shadowed, and he realized that someone was standing behind him.

“Cas!” He said, scrambling to stand up. “What’s up?”

Castiel smiled at him, but it was forced, and thin. “I had a few extra minutes before I have to serve the food, so I came to uh, apologize.”

Dean raised his eyebrows. He definitely hadn’t expected that.

“Oh. Uh, for what?” He said, eloquently. 

Cas sighed. “I was made aware that I had been rude, earlier. You weren’t at breakfast, and Gabriel said that I probably could have been more polite to you.”

Well, he wasn’t expecting that. 

“Well, you weren’t exactly the most welcoming,” Dean joked. “It was my first day and all, I was just trying to be friendly.”

Cas nodded, stiffly. “Again, I apologize. I was stressed about having enough food to serve, I shouldn’t have snapped at you, and I shouldn’t have brushed you off.”

Aw shit, Dean didn’t mean to make him feel bad. Cas was probably three or four years older than him, and he looked like a child being yelled at by an angry adult. Dean knew what that felt like. 

Dean held out his hand. “Uh, it’s okay, dude. Friends?” 

Cas tentatively took his hand. “Friends. I guess.”

Dean grinned. “You guess? It’s not a test, Cas. We’re either friends or we’re not. I can’t have the dude who makes my grub hatin’ me.”

He hoped that he was coming off as friendly, this time. 

Cas shook his head. “No, you’re right. We’re friends, Dean.” 

He looked like he was going to say more, but just then, Ben and Andy started fighting, and Dean turned to stop them. He jogged over to the kids, and got them to agree to share. When he looked up, Cas was yards away. 

Dean held up a hand to wave, and Cas waved back. 

“Dean?”

“Yeah?”

“Don’t skip meals again, it’s not healthy.” And with that, he turned away and headed towards to mess hall. 

***

When they kids got tired of playing basketball, Dean locked up the ball in the shed, and had them head over to the dining hall. Everyone was already seated by the time they got there, so Dean rushed his kids inside. Bobby was standing in front of the room, microphone in hand, explaining camp rules. 

The dining hall consisted of several long tables, but the entirety of the camp fit comfortably in two of them, with all four cabins. Dean quietly lined his kids up all at one table, and headed over to the staff table, where the rest of the counselors were waiting. 

“Dean! What took you guys so long?” Charlie asked, handing him a basket of rolls. “We were about to send a search party.”

Dean rolled his eyes. “Don’t be so dramatic. We were playing basketball and got carried away.” He chewed into his roll. “Guys, so guess what happened to me?”

“You got discovered by the elf basketball league, and they want you to be their star player.” Gabriel guessed.

“What? No! Shut up, dude. I’m taller than you.” Dean cried, trying to hear over Bobby. “No, what happened to me is even crazier. You know Cas? The kitchen dude?”

Gabriel raised an eyebrow and smirked, but said nothing.

“What happened?” Jo asked.

“Well, he came and found me while I was out with my kids and freakin’ apologized for being snippy with me yesterday. Then he told me not to skip meals anymore. Like, he noticed that I wasn’t here this morning? Weird, right?”

Gabriel snorted. “Yeah, weird.”

Dean gave him a look, but didn’t have time to ask him what the hell he was talking about because soon, two guys and Cas were coming out with trays of food. 

Cas made eye contact with Dean, and rushed over to the counselor’s table. “We have to serve the children first, but I’ll be back with your food, soon.” He said it directly to Dean, completely ignoring the other staffers. 

“Thanks for the info, Cas!” Gabriel called after him. 

Some of the other staff members who arrived that day and were also sitting at the table, raised a few eyebrows. 

Missouri, the camp nurse, hooted. “Boy, this’ll be good.”

Once all the kids were eating, Cas came back with trays full of grilled cheese, and forced a smile at Dean. “Bon Appetit!” He said, awkwardly. 

From beside him, Gabriel winced. “Jesus, he’s awkward as fuck, right?”

Dean laughed. “I dunno, it’s kinda cute.”

Gabe scoffed. “You would be into the weirdo type.” He patted Dean on the back. “Good luck with that.”

Dean rolled his eyes. “I’m not into him. Or guys at all, really.” When Gabriel fixed him with a look that said he absolutely did not believe him, Dean sighed. “Usually. I’m not _usually_ into guys.”

Gabriel nodded. “ _There’s_ the whole truth. Or part of it.”

“Most of it,” Dean admitted.

“So you gonna go for my baby bro, or not?”

Dean’s neck whipped around so fast it almost snapped. “What?”

Gabriel grinned his toothless grin. “Oh, I didn’t tell you? Castiel’s my brother.”

Dean groaned. “No.”

Gabe cackled. “Yes.”

***

The rest of the week went by smoothly. They soon fell into a comfortable routine,and Dean was happy. At night, Dean would threaten the campers with no swimming if they didn’t shut up and go to sleep. Each morning he would sit at the staffer’s table bleary-eyed, barely there. 

On Wednesday, he closed his eyes for a few moments listening to Bobby talk to the campers about their goals for the day, and when Charlie sharply elbowed him his eyes flew open, and landed on a glorious cup of coffee.

“What-” He started to ask, but she jerked her head behind her, and when Dean turned to look, he saw Castiel walking away from their table, smirking. That son of a bitch made him coffee. Dean smiled into his mug, and ignored any sort of look Charlie and Gabriel may or may not had been giving him.

Each day, they had an assortment of activities like the rock wall, archery, and craft time. They were so lowly staffed, that Dean had to run most of the activities, but he didn’t mind.

His favorite part of the day was by far swim. He took the kids to the lake each day to swim, where he sat on the dock and watched Benny give them their swim lessons. 

The first half of the lesson consisted of Benny showing them different back strokes and front strokes. They were terrible, and most of it was giant splashing and doggie paddling, but Benny didn’t seem to care. He grinned as the kids splashed around him, gently correcting their mistakes. It was sweet, but it made Dean wish that he had been given swim lessons when he was a kid. They were always moving around so much that he never had the opportunity to learn. He always heard other kids talk about swimming lessons and plans for going to the pool, but whenever invited, Dean always made some excuse about being busy.

With a horrifying realization, Dean wondered if Sam knew how to swim. Would he be the only kid in Cloud Cabin that didn’t know how? The other kids would probably make fun of him and be a big dick about it, right? Not only was he the oldest one in camp, but he couldn’t swim either. Shit, Dean just wanted Sam to have a good summer, not spend it being teased. Maybe this wasn’t such a good idea. 

Dean was so distracted with his thoughts, that he didn’t notice Benny wading up the dock and hoisting his large body onto the platform.

“Hey.” He grunted. “Don’t look so serious, they’ll get better.”

Dean looked up from where he had been staring at the water. “Huh?”

“The kids, they’re godawful at swimming. Well, except for Garth.” They both looked over at little Garth, who was showing off how long he could hold his breath under water.. The other kids surrounded him, looking impressed. “You looked down, so I figured you were worried about their terrible swimming skills. Don’t worry.” His eyes were warm, and Dean knew he was inviting him to _talk about his problems_ , but he shook his head. 

“Should we be letting him do that?” Dean asked, pointing to Garth.

Benny laughed. “Kid’s a fish, what can I say? Leave him, he’s fine.” He tilted his head back, and let the warm sun shine on his face. After a moment, he peeked at Dean out of the corner of his eye. “You sure you’re okay?”

Dean nodded. “I’m great, dude. Just tired, I guess.”

The lifeguard hummed. “I feel you, brother. But hey, at least it’s Friday. Your little munchkins go home today.”

“What? Shit, oh yeah.” Dean had completely forgotten that his entire cabin went home on the weekends. After this they went home, and he’d be free to hang out with Sammy and hell, _sleep_ for the next two days. 

He gathered up the kiddos and herded them back to their cabins. They wrapped themselves up in their towels and shivered as they hopped along, and Dean realized that shit, he loves these dumb kids.

Getting six little kids to change their clothes sounds like an easy task, but holy shit, it was the opposite. 

The first day, Dean had just excused himself to his room, thinking they could take care of it themselves. Wrong. Not even a minute later, kids were pounding on his closed door, and Dean realized that he needed to actually sit out in the mainroom with them while they changed. Jesus.

“Dean, I can’t find my underwear!” Kevin wailed, stomping around the room, butt naked.

“Dude, put some clothes on!” Andy shrieked, dramatically shielding his eyes. “Gross!”

“I _would_ , if I knew where my underwear was!” Kevin stomped

Dean looked up from where he was helping Victor pack (because seriously, he told them all to pack their shit that morning, but apparently Victor hadn’t gotten the memo), and sighed. “Kev, where’d you put your stuff, dude?”

Kevin shrugged.

“Do you have other pairs of underwear that you can wear home? Your parents are gonna be here in half an hour, I think you can just go home in a different pair than the ones you started the day with.” He rubbed a hand across his face. Who the fuck loses their underwear? These kids were savages.

Kevin seemed to accept the idea, because he swung his suitcase onto his bed, and started digging through it. Great, now Dean would have to help him repack that. 

Eventually, all of the members of Cabin Terra were appropriately dressed and had their towels hanging out to dry on the porch. By the time Dean got the last towel hanging, the parents started arriving.

“MOM! Camp is so much fun!” 

“Aw, do you really have to pick me up so soon?”

“Dad, mom, come meet Dean!” (To this, Garth’s mother sighed. She had already met Dean, remember?”)

Lisa wandered in, looking around at all the campers and their parents. “Hey, how was your first week?” She asked Dean, grabbing Ben’s backpack.

Dean shrugged. “A little hectic,” he admitted.

She laughed. “I can imagine. C’mon Ben,” she called, dragging him away from Andy. “See you Monday!” She told Dean. 

Finally, _finally_ , they were all gone.

Dean collapsed on his bed, exhausted. Screw consciousness. 

***

_Whack!_

Dean jerked up, to see Gabriel standing at the foot of his bed, smirking. “Wake up, sleepy. You missed dinner.”

Dean rubbed his backside. “So you decided to come smack my ass? What the hell, dude!”

“Whatever. Stop skipping meals, it makes Castiel mopey.” Gabe plopped himself down next to Dean, and stretched out on his bed. “This is a nice mattress, I might switch ours while you’re at archery next week.”

“Cas was mopey?” Dean asked. “What d’you mean?”

Gabriel rolled his eyes so far back Dean was worried that they might fall out. “I mean, he was mopey. He kept looking around for you like he was a lost puppy and you were his master. Hey, you’re going to the campfire tonight, right?”

Dean shrugged. “I dunno. I was gonna go hang out with Sammy.”

Gabriel raised an eyebrow. “ _Sammy_ is going to the campfire.” He leered then, grinning. “So is my baby bro. Maybe you should go.”

Okay, maybe he should go.

To hang out with Sammy.

***

After ten minutes of messing around with his hair (because it got messed up from sleep, and that’s the only reason), he trailed out to the big campfire, in the middle of the camp.

Bobby was telling a story to the kids, so he slinked in next to Cas. “Hey,” he whispered, giving him a slight wave.

Cas wrinkled his eyebrows at him. “You were not at dinner,” he pointed out, and Dean shrugged. 

“I fell asleep.”

“You’re always sleeping,” he groaned. 

Dean winked. 

Bobby raised his eyebrows at them, and pointedly asked, “Can I continue my story, or do you two need to discuss Dean’s eating and sleeping habits some more?”

The pair apologized, and Bobby snorted. “S’what I thought. Anyways…” he launched back into his ghost story, effectively terrifying the kids. 

The girl sitting next to Dean, snuggled up next to him. “That was so scary, Dean.”

Dean glanced down at the girl. “You okay, sweetheart?”

The camper blushed at the endearment, and batted her eyelashes. “I’m okay, now.” Jesus, this kid was probably ten. 

Dean looked over at Cas, who was stifling a laugh. 

“Shut up,” Dean told him. Cas held up his hands, but said nothing. His eyes were smiling. 

Jo noticed the little girl up in Dean’s space. “Bela, what did we talk about?” She asked, sternly. 

Bela slumped. “Dean’s a grownup…” she said, miserably.

Jo sent Dean an apologetic look. ‘Sorry,’ she mouthed. Dean shrugged, he hadn’t even seen this kid in his life, what did he care? 

Well, it was a little creepy that this was apparently not the first time Jo has had to speak to Bela about Dean, but hey, little kids had crushes, whatever.

He was much more concerned with _his_ little crush, who was currently turned towards Dean, their knees touching. 

“S’more?” Dean blurted.

“What?” Cas asked.

“Uh,” he fumbled with stick. “Want me to make you a s’more? I’ve heard that I’m the best in the world at making them.”

Cas smiled. “Sure.”

Dean wasn’t lying. He was fucking awesome at making s’mores. Whenever he and John stayed somewhere with a fireplace, Dean would use up some of the food money on crackers, chocolate, and marshmallows. Sometimes, they would even go out camping on warm summer nights, and roast them there. If we’re being entirely honest here, he was the master at s’mores. 

He stuck a marshmallow on a stick and waved it over the fire. “See, the trick is to just hover over the fire. No need to shove it in the flames and burn it.”

Cas nodded. “Uh-huh. Interesting.”

Dean cocked an eyebrow, and grinned crookedly. “You makin’ fun of me, Cas?”

“Oh no, never!” Cas said in mock-protest. “You show me how to make those s’mores.”

“Good.” Dean puffed out his chest. “You do all your cooking on a stove, you probably don’t know how.”

Dean set to work making Cas’s s’more, and it occurred to him that he was being pretty blatant about his flirting. He glanced over at Sam, who was wedged between two girls from Jo’s cabin. Sam raised his eyebrows, and shot a pointed look at Cas. Dean shrugged.

Sam didn’t know anything about him and Aaron last year, or how Dean got caught with him, and after resolving to just “be straight”, Dean was sort of hoping Sam would never find out. Well, kinda too late now. 

“See how it’s turning golden-brown? Beautiful.” He presented the marshmallow to Cas. “That’s how it’s done.”

Nobody looked more entertained than Gabriel.


	2. Take a Hike, Kid

_I’m on the highway to Hell…_

Dean’s eyes flashed open. Although most days he was everything a morning person wasn’t, today he wanted to wake up as early as possible. 

He rolled over and smacked at his phone until it stopped singing at him, and sat up in bed. It was eerie being in the cabin by himself. For the past five days, he had woken up to the sounds of little boys giggling and whispering to each other, because for some reason, children had something against sleep. The silence was deafening and Dean was eager to go spend some time with his brother. 

He strolled into the mess hall to find it was already bustling, and made a beeline for Sam’s table.  
Sam was excitedly talking to a girl about his age with blonde, curly hair, in between taking bites out of an apple. Dean snuck up behind him, placed his hands on his shoulders, and poked his head in between the pair. 

“Aaaaam I interrupting something?” Dean asked, smirking. 

Sam rolled his eyes, and shooked Dean off his shoulders. “Dean, what do you want?”

Dean pretended to be taken aback. “I can’t come over and visit my brother? On my day off?”

The blonde girl smiled at Dean. “I’m Jess, hi!”

Dean smiled, and slowly turned his head to Sam. “Well, hi Jess. You must be one of Sam’s friends.” He said it to Jess, but was looking straight at Sam, giving him the world’s best shit-eating grins. 

“Go _away_ , Dean.” Sam said forcefully, between his teeth. “If you don’t go to the staff table, you’re not gonna get any breakfast.”

“I’ll get breakfast no matter what, I know the chef.” Dean winked. “You kids have fun.” He started to walk away, but he stopped when he remembered why he went over to Sam in the first place. “Hey, we’re still hanging out today, right?” It had been their plan all week to spend time together today, but Dean just wanted to make sure. They had barely seen each other over the week, partially because Dean was so busy, but partially because Sam had been having so much fun. 

Sam frowned. “Of course. Why wouldn’t we?”

Dean tried not to let his relief show. Of course Sam still wanted to hang out with him. “Just making sure, Sammy.” He tousled his hair, and Sam swatted at him, peeking over at Jess. She laughed softly. 

Dean could practically see the lightbulb go off over Sam’s head when he brightened and said, “Hey, maybe we could hang out after my cabin goes on the zipline, today? Do you wanna come watch us?”

“Sure, when’s that?” 

“Right after breakfast! Gabriel said the zipline is basically the best part of camp.” For someone who just only a week ago was thoroughly pissed off at the idea of summer camp, Sam looked pretty excited at the idea of strapping himself in a harness and flinging himself across camp. 

Dean agreed to go watch him after breakfast, and sauntered over to his table. Without looking up from their meals, Jo and Gabriel split apart and made room for Dean. 

The food was already out of the table, which meant that Cas was inside the kitchen. Dean tried to not look disappointed. 

Gabriel elbowed him. “Don’t worry, he’ll be out when he realizes that you’re here.”

Dean gave Gabriel a look, and it must have been effective, because the shorter man raised his hands defensively. “Hey, don’t blame me for trying to stir up a little summer romance.”

“ _Summer romance_?” Dean scoffed. “You’re delusional, I’ve talked to the guy like, three times.”

Gabriel crossed his arms, and slouched in his seat. If he wasn’t in his mid-twenties, Dean would say that he was pouting. “Yeah, thanks to me,” he huffed.

Whoa, back the fun train up. 

“Excuse me?” Dean raised an eyebrow, and he was vaguely aware that he was using his counselor voice on him. 

Gabriel became suddenly very interested in his breakfast burrito, which y’know, was kind of suspicious. 

“ _Gabe_.” Oh yeah, he was definitely using his counselor’s voice now. If anything, Gabriel wasn’t helping but looking so guilty about it. 

“Okay, fine. I _might_ have pestered him into talking to you?”

Dean smacked his shoulder. “Dude, what the fuck does that mean?” Dean had had enough at this point. 

“Nothing! I just made him apologize for being a dick to you!” Gabriel whined, defensively. 

Both counselors winced as they felt a sharp pain to their shins. They both cried out in pain and looked up to see Missouri glaring at them, impatiently. 

“ _Language_.” She warned. 

The pair hung their heads. If there was anything Dean had learned in his week of working at Camp Kripke, it was that if Missouri lectured you, you fucking listened. 

“Sorry, Missouri,” Dean mumbled at the same time that Gabriel said, “My bad…”

Missouri took a sip of her tea. “Don’t be more of a bad example than you already are. Can’t believe they keep hiring you, Gabriel.”

“Hey, nobodies died on my watch, yet!” Gabriel protested.

Missouri allowed herself a small smile. “Yeah, because of me.” Her eyes moved to Dean. “Dean, honey, don’t you go thinking Gabriel is the model for how you should be behaving.”

Dean grinned. “Of course. _I_ am way more behaved than Gabe over here.”

Missouri her eyes. “You better be.”

Charlie snorted. “Please, everyone is more well behaved than Gabriel. Missouri, how many of his kids have you had to patch up over the years?”

“Hm! Too many.” Missouri snorted. 

Dean grinned at the people he worked with, and he realized that they were his friends. Huh. He never had those before. 

An arm stretched from behind Dean, and placed a steaming mug of coffee in front of him. Dean followed the arm up to it’s owner, who was self-consciously wiping his hands on his apron. 

“Cas! Thanks for the coffee, dude.” Dean beamed. 

“I-well. You probably could use the extra caffeine. With your campers and everything.” Cas said awkwardly, avoiding eye contact.

“His campers aren’t even here! Where’s my coffee?” Gabriel whined. 

Cas’s eyes flickered to Gabriel, and he wrinkled his nose. “You can get your own coffee, can’t you?”

Gabriel opened his mouth to retort, but Cas had walked away without a word.

***

Dean followed Gabriel’s cabin as they trekked into the woods, where the zipline course was set up. Dean was amazed at how well Gabriel interacted with the kids, singing camp songs and playing games as he marched them across the campgrounds. 

“This is a repeat-after-me song!” Gabriel shouted, walking backwards to face his kids. 

“This is a repeat-after-me song!” The kids screamed back, with twice as much intensity.

Dean jogged up to Sam so that they were walking side by side, and he was shocked to see that Sam was repeating back the cheesy lyrics that Gabriel gave them, right along with all the other kids in his cabin. 

“We have to sing back, or he makes us stop walking, and we’re late to the activity,” Sam explained, when Dean looked at him curiously.

“ _Right_.” 

“It’s true!” Sam squeaked, so Dean had to put him into a headlock to punish him. 

Dean had been offered a chance to go on the zipline during staff training. They taught him how to put on a harness, and made them all try it at least once. Except Dean, who absolutely refused. No way. 

It was nestled in a small open area in the surrounding woods on the camp grounds, and was about a fifteen minute hike to get to it. It was set up right next to a large cabin, although Dean wasn’t sure who lived in it, probably no one. To get to the zipline, you had to climb up a fifty foot tree, step onto the platform, and get hooked in by a rec staff. Sure, you’re already harnessed in when you climb, and there’s steel steps melded into the tree, but that doesn’t make it any less terrifying. Who the fuck would think anything like that is fun?

The group arrived at the zipline, where the rec leader Balthazar was waiting for them. 

“Oh good, you’re here!” He hopped off the blue bin containing the harnesses, and tossed a few to Dean and Gabe. “Who’s going first?”

Six hands shot in the air, as all of Cloud Cabin fought over who was going to go fling themselves across a wire first. Dean looked over at Sam nervously, who nudged him and smiled. 

“Dude, you look like you’re going to throw up.”

“You gonna go up there?” Dean tried to act like he wasn’t freaking out, but he was. What if it the pulley system snapped? What if Sam fell? He couldn’t handle the idea of Sam getting hurt, he just couldn’t. 

“Of course! Doesn’t it look fun?” Sam frowned. He nodded at Dean understandingly. “It’ll be fine, Balthazar knows what he’s doing.”

Dean swallowed the lump in his throat. He knew he was being stupid, so he nodded. 

“If it helps, I’ll go last,” Sam offered, trying to help.

Dean nodded again. Sam was the best brother in the world. “Whatever you want, dude.” He tried to go for false bravado, but it came out really shakily. 

Gabriel and Dean helped get all the kids in their harnesses, and passed out helmets. The first kid, Uriel, was already climbing up the tree, with the rest of the kids cheering him on.

Dean felt a wave of nausea go through him. He couldn’t watch this, he just couldn’t. Maybe he could pretend to watch, and then when the time came for Sam to go, Dean could go inside the empty cabin and plug his ears. 

Uriel was at the top of the tree now, and he could hear Balthazar giving him instructions from the platform. He heard a click and a _rrrrrrip!_ and Uriel was flying across the woods.

It was only about three hundred feet, and Benny was waiting on the other side. Bobby said that he helped build the pulley system himself, and that it could take the weight of a bus. A ninety pound kid was nothing. 

Dean sighed, and sat down on the steps of the cabin. The cabin had a big wrap around porch, that led to the zipline area. The camp probably rented it out to people during the winter, to make extra cash. It was pretty well kept, though. There were potted plants on the railing, and curtains in the window. 

The back door swung open, and out walked Cas, with a book. He stopped and stared at Dean. 

Dean scrambled off the steps and hopped onto his feet. “Cas. Hey.”

“Hello, Dean.” Cas said pleasantly. “Enjoying your day off?”

Another click and _rrrrrrip!_ Dean flinched. 

“Not a fan of the zipline I take it?” Cas sat down on the steps and patted the space next to him. Dean took it as an invitation and sat down. 

“It freaks me out. Humans aren’t meant to fly, dude.”

Cas shrugged. “I love the zipline.” 

Dean tried to focus on anything but the piercing sound of children being launched across a forest. “You’ve been on it?”

Cas snorted. “It’s in my backyard, of course I have.”

Dean stretched around to look back at the cabin. Oh, duh. “You live here?”

“Unfortunately.”

Dean was about to ask him what he meant by _unfortunately_ , but Sam came running over. Dean chuckled at his awkward waddling due to the harness that was currently framing his body.

“Hey, Dean?” Sam looked nervous. Why was he nervous? Did he not want to go on the zipline? That’s totally cool, he didn’t have to do that if he didn’t want to. 

“What’s up, Sammy?”

“Um,” he shifted his weight back and forth, and bit his lip, the way he did when he had something to say but didn’t want to say it. “I’m going next.”

Dean’s stomach lurched. “Okay. Are you nervous?”

“Oh, no! It’s not that,” and Dean sighed in relief. That made one of them. “It’s just that I think we’re going swimming next.”

Dean blinked. “Okay.”

“So… I’m gonna do that.” Sam mumbled. 

Oh, he meant _instead of hangout with you._

Dean forced a smile. “Oh, okay. That’s fine. It’s your camp experience, dude, I don’t care.”

“Tomorrow?” Sam asked.

“Tomorrow.” Dean confirmed. Sam beamed, and threw his arms around Dean, before waddling over to the tree.

“Jesus, I can’t watch.” Dean muttered. He stared at his hands. His brother was climbing a 50 foot tree.“Distract me, Cas. What’re you reading?” He gestured to the book that Cas had walked out with, still in his lap. 

“I’m not. I came out to sketch.”

He turned to face Cas, forcing him to look in the opposite direction of the tree. “Oh yeah? Can I see?” he reached towards the book, but Cas pulled it protectively to his chest.

“I don’t like to show people.” He muttered, his cheeks turning red. 

Dean grinned. “Sure, sure. Don’t want me to see all the naked French women you draw. I get it.” He teased.

Cas squinted at him, and it made his entire face look screwy and a little bit adorable. “‘Naked French women’? Why would I have drawings of naked French women?”

Dean opened his mouth to tell him that it was a Titanic reference, but he was cut off by a click and a _rrrrrrrip!_ followed by the unmistakable sound of Sam shouting in glee.

Dean paled, and he felt a warm hand on his back. He leaned into the touch, and rested his nose on Cas’s shoulder.

Cas rubbed his back, and he felt a whole bunch of tension that he wasn’t even aware of wash out of his body. He tried to concentrate on how good Cas smelt, but it only made Dean hyper aware of how close they were. The the sound of the buzzing cord that Sam was riding sailed away, and eventually Dean sat up.

His eyes met with Castiel, and he felt himself blush. Shit, he basically just threw himself into Cas’s arms. 

“I uh- sorry.” He coughed. 

Cas smiled at him warmly. “It’s okay. You were nervous about your brother, I understand.” Dean’s heart melted a little bit. Cas moved his hand away from his back, and Dean tried not to miss it. 

“Sam’s safe, look.” Cas pointed across the woods, where Dean could just barely make out the image of Benny unhooking Sam from his harness. Sam waved. 

Dean turned back to thank Cas, but the man was already standing up again. “I used to hate that thing, until Gabriel made me get on it.”

“Was it as bad as you thought it would be?”

Cas shrugged. “Turns out, I loved it. It feels like flying.”

Dean shook his head. “Like I said, dude. People aren’t meant to fly.”

“Perhaps not. That doesn’t make it any less enjoyable.”

With that, he opened the door to his cabin, stepped inside, and let it swing shut.

Defeated, Dean stood up, ready to walk back to his own cabin and nap until lunch. He was about to wander over to Gabriel to let him know that Sam was now not going to be spending the day with him, when the cabin door swung back open. 

“Dean, what are you plans for today?” Cas asked, trotting down the steps.

Dean shrugged. “I was gonna nap. Then eat lunch.”

“Well, you can walk me to the kitchen so I can make your lunch, how does that sound?” 

Dean grinned. “I could probably handle that.”

***

As it turns out, Castiel isn’t one for small talk. It’s nice, Dean realized, to just walk with someone. It wasn’t awkward, they just walked side by side on the trail leading back to camp. 

Of course, Dean felt the need to fill the silence anyway, because he’s Dean Winchester and that’s how he works.

“So, you’re gay.” As soon as he said it, he regretted it. 

He steeled himself for Cas to get offended, but he only chuckled. “Most of the time.”

Dean could respect that. He was all for vague answers about sexuality. Hell, that was how he got through most conversations these days. 

They walked in silence for a few minutes after that. It was starting to get hot out, the first signs of afternoon rolling in. 

“Aren’t you going to ask me the same thing?” Deak asked. 

Cas shrugged. “It’s none of my business.” 

“Oh.”

At first Dean thought this was a jab at him for asking Cas in the first place, but it wasn’t. Cas didn’t seem offended, or anything, so Dean let it go. 

Dean peaked at Cas from the corner of his eye, and Cas laughed at him.

“You can tell me if you want to. I just make a point not to ask people.”

“I actually don’t know,” Dean admitted. 

Cas nodded, like that was the answer he expected. “You’re young.”

“You-! You can’t be that much older than me!” Dean sputtered. He didn’t know what expected Cas to be like, be he didn’t expect him to be all wise and new agey. 

“How old are you?” 

They were reaching the edge of the woods now, and Cas would have to go into the mess hall and start lunch. Dean wasn’t just quite ready for the conversation to stop, so he stopped walking. 

“What, you can’t ask me if I’m into dudes or not, but you can ask me how old I am?” 

Cas looked amused. “Is your age personal?”

Dean crossed his arms. “Maybe.”

The chef raised his eyebrows.

“I’m eighteen.” Dean sighed.

Cas whistled. “You’re older than I thought you were.”

“ _Older_?” Dean practically screeched. “How old did you think I was?”

Oh, Cas was definitely getting a kick out of this. He tilted his head in a fluid motion, lazily shrugging. “I don’t know, sixteen maybe? Seventeen?”

“Oh, okay. An’ how old are you? Forty?”

Cas rolled his eyes. “I’m twenty-three.”

“Oh.”

They started walking again. They reached the back entrance of the mess hall, and suddenly Dean felt like he was walking someone home at the end of a date. “So…” 

“Would you like to see my kitchen?” Cas blurted.

Dean smiled. “You're offering to show me your kitchen? Am I even allowed in there? Kinda naughty.” He winked.

Cas huffed. “You can either come inside to see my kitchen, or sit outside and wait for lunch, which is in…” he glanced down at his watch. “Two hours.”

Dean clapped together his hands. “Are you gonna let me watch you cook? Oh goodie!” He said in mock-enthusiasm.

“Only if you’re good.” Without another word, he swung open the back door and walked in without another word. 

Dean stared at the door. Was he supposed to follow him or…?

Cas poked his head back out. “Coming?”

Dean grinned. Right, of course.

He followed Cas into the kitchen, and watched as Cas moved in and out of the freezer, pulling out bags of food. 

“So, this is it.” Cas said.

“Corndogs?” Dean asked, hopping up on the counter. 

“My kitchen.” He started scrubbing his hands in the sink next to Dean, and when he was done, he switched off the water and turned to Dean.

He was unbearably close. Dean could open up his legs and Cas could slot right in between them. Was he going to kiss him? Oh god, Dean could not handle it if Cas tried to kiss him. He could feel his heart pounding heavily in his chest, and his hands felt a little clammy. 

“Dean?” Cas asked, looking up at him.

Dean swallowed. “Y-yeah?”

“Get your ass off my counter. That’s unsanitary.”

He laughed, embarrassed, and slid his butt off the counter. “Heh, right, sorry.”

What the fuck? He was eighteen goddamn years old, since when did he get all gross and shaky and blushy over a _dude?_ That was how girls were supposed to be around _him_. Last year with Aaron, he had never been like that. Sure, he had gotten a little embarrassed when he first realized that he was being flirted with oh hello, a guy, but he didn’t get all freaked out like he had just then with Cas. This crush was worse than he thought.

Like a train crash, sudden and loud, Dean realized that he had a crush on Camp Kripke’s head chef.

Cas decided that Dean could stay and watch him prepare for lunch, so he dragged in a chair from the dining hall, and set himself up in the corner. 

First, Cas pointedly wiped down the counters, raising an eyebrow when he wiped the place that Dean was sitting. Okay, Dean got the message-no sitting on the counters. 

Castiel worked in a silence for a while-the only sounds in the kitchen was the soothing white noise of the dishwasher, and the scuffle of Cas’s shoes. He finished cleaning his workspace, and washed his hands before smacking on some rubber gloves. 

“So, did you always want to be a chef?” Dean asked, cringing at his own awkwardness. 

Cas snorted. “I would hardly call myself a chef. I’m reheating frozen corndogs.”

“Yeah, but you reheat them the best,” Dean said, batting his eyelashes. 

Cas chuckled and shook his head, and started unwrapping the frozen food. 

“You didn’t answer the question, dude.”

The man shrugged. “Not really. I just sort of fell into it.”

“What, you didn’t dream of feeding brats your whole life?” Dean teased.

“No, and I didn’t picture myself feeding campers, either,” he deadpanned. 

Dean gaped. “Did you just make a _joke_?” 

“I can be funny,” Cas said defensively.

Dean shook his head. “I’ve known you a whole week, and I haven’t once heard you make so much as a pun.”

Cas frowned. “Surely I’ve made a joke before. I’m hilarious.”

“Nope. You’ve been pretty joke-free.”

“Oh.” Cas said, thoughtfully. 

He turned back to the tray that he had been setting corndogs on. “Can I tell you something, if you promise not to tell another soul?”

Dean blinked. “Sure Cas.” 

“I...I hate working here,” Cas confessed. 

Dean certainly hadn’t expected that. Truth be told, Dean felt the opposite. He loved working at Camp Kripke.

Cas waited for Dean’s reaction, and when he stayed silent, he turned around. 

“Why do you hate it here?” Dean asked, for lack of something to say. 

“I’m trapped.” He whispered. 

“So leave.” Please don’t. 

“I-I can’t.”

The conversation had turned serious way too quickly. What was Dean supposed to say to that?

It didn’t matter, because the door connecting the kitchen to the dining hall swung open with a bang, and Balthazar waltzed in.

“Cassie! I was hoping you were around. I saw you leave the cabin and I-” He stopped when he saw the way that Cas was standing, arms crossed defensively, eyes brimmed with red. His eyes followed to where Cas was staring, and turned to Dean.

“What’s going on in here?” He demanded, looking cross.

Cas waved him away. “I’ll tell you later, Balthazar. Get out of my kitchen, you’re filthy.” 

Balthazar sent one more threatening look to Dean, before marching out. 

Cas stared at the door for a moment, before flickering back to Dean. They made eye contact, and Dean thought for a moment that Cas was going to say something important, but instead, he abruptly turned back to his work, and continued to lay out the corn dogs.

***

Luckily, the next day Sam wanted to go out and do stuff with Dean. He wandered over to the staff table halfway through breakfast and shyly found Dean.

“Do you wanna do stuff today?” He asked, perfecting the tail-between-legs look.

Dean grinned. “Sure, Sammy. Whatever you want to do today." Sure, he had been hurt by Sam blowing him off the day before, but it didn’t matter, because Sam wanted him now. 

Sam opened his mouth to say more, but was interrupted by Cas, bringing over Dean’s coffee. He hadn’t seen much of Cas after his little confession, apart from waves across the mess hall, but brewing and bringing coffee to Dean had become a daily ritual. 

“Thanks, Cas.” Dean said, winking at him. Cas stuttered out a weak “you’re welcome,” before making his way back to the kitchen.

Sam’s eyebrows furrowed, and he looked incredibly perplexed at the flirting that he had just witnessed, but Dean started talking again before he could ask. 

“So, what do you have in mind?”

Sam’s mouth clamped shut, and he shrugged. “I figured we could go canoeing today. That sound okay?”

Uh, no. That was absolutely not okay. Watching his kids wade around in knee-length water, but a boat in the middle of the lake? Fuck that. 

“I uh,” Dean coughed. “I don’t know how to work a canoe.”

Sam bursted into laughter. “Seriously? You’re a camp counselor, dude!”

The two brothers bitched back and forth for a few minutes about it, until they agreed to meet at one on the lake. 

***

“See? It’s not so bad,” Sam said. They were almost to the middle of the lake now, and so far, they were both alive. Dean felt pretty dorky in his bright yellow life jacket, but Sam did too, so it was okay. 

Sam sat up at the front of the canoe, with Dean in the back. They weren’t facing each other, so Sam had to glance over his shoulder every once in a while to give brief instructions. He taught Dean how to switch the paddle when he wanted to turn, and let him set the pace and direction.

“How come you know how to do all this shit?” Dean asked, after they had been paddling for a while.

“Gabriel taught us last week. How come you don’t?”

“My kids don’t have canoes until next Wednesday. I was kinda hoping Benny would take them out for me.” Dean admitted. He knew there was no way in hell he was letting a bunch of seven to nine year olds go out in a canoe by themselves, so he was going to ask Benny if he could just take out three kids at a time. Dean supposed they could probably tag team it now. 

They found a small dock in the lake, and they tied the canoe to it and wobbled out. The dock was barely big enough for the two of them to stretch out and lay in the sun. Dean dug through his backpack, and produced a jumbo sized bag of peanut M&Ms. 

“You fatass.” Sammy groaned. 

“So? They make me happy. An’ just for that, I’m not gonna share.”

Sam peeked at his brother from the corner of his eye. “I didn’t say _that_.”

“Nope. You get nothing.” Dean said, indignantly. “They’re my M&Ms, I’ve been saving them all summer.”

“All summer?! It’s only the second week, jerk! Share the love!” Sam reached over and tried to pry the candy away from his brother, but luckily for Dean, he was still much stronger than the kid. 

Well, Dean at least thought he was, but suddenly Sam was on top of him, wrestling the bag out of his hands.

“Aha!” Sam had successfully ripped the bag away from Dean, but was still straddling him. Dean huffed, and then shoved him off. Unfortunately, the dock was so small, that that landed Sam into the murky lake water with a _crash!_

“Fuck, Sammy!” Dean sat up instantly, searching the water for his little brother. 

Sam bobbed over the surface, grinning wildly. Dean breathed a sigh of relief. Right. They were both wearing life jackets. 

“You dick!” Sammy spat, giggling. He splashed some water at Dean.  
Dean looked around and his face fell when he saw the yellow M&M bag, floating next to Sam. _Empty_ yellow M &M bag. 

“My M&Ms!” He whined. Goddammit. He had bought those on the way to camp last week, and he was hoping they would last him the rest of the summer. Now he would have to rely on sucking up to Gabriel for treats. 

But before he could demand that Sam ask his counselor for candy, a hand snaked out of the water, and tugged, pulling Dean into the lake ass first. 

Of course, he was wearing his life jacket, so it was fine, but that didn’t make it any less pleasant. 

“Fuck that’s cold!” He said, shoving at Sam, who only laughed harder.

“You shoulda seen your face, Dean! Priceless!”

“I’m gonna get you back, Sammy!” 

The two dicked around with each other for a minute before pulling themselves back up onto the dock, sopping wet and hysterical. 

They rowed their way back to shore, and Dean was grateful that he decided to wear sandals, which had miraculously stayed on his feet when he fell into the water. Sam however, had opted to wear Converse, and bitched the whole walk back about wet socks. Dean could sympathise with him, though. His clothes felt heavy, and uncomfortably stuck to his skin. 

“Dean?”

“Yeah, dude?”

“I like camp.” Sam looked up at his brother, silently apologizing for not trusting him.

“‘Course you do. I’m here, and that makes it awesome.” 

Sam laughed, and shoved him playfully. The Winchesters were good again.

When he delivered Sam back to Gabriel, he laughed at them. “Did it rain?” 

“Shut up,” Dean said, because Sam looked like he wanted to, but couldn’t because Gabe knew where he slept. 

Things were good. 

***  
Dean’s kids came back the next day, and although he enjoyed his break, he would be lying if he said he didn’t miss them. 

Garth dropped his backpack as soon as he saw Dean, and came crashing into his legs, hugging his waist fiercely. “Dean! Did you have a good weekend? Mine was awesome, but I really missed camp.”

“I’m sorry, he really missed you.” Garth’s mom told him. “All he talked about all weekend was ‘Dean this’, and ‘Dean that’. You must be an amazing counselor.”

Dean felt a swell of pride. “I think the whole cabin just gets along really well,” he said honestly. 

“Well, you’re doing something right.” She said before leaving. 

They had a few hours before lunch, and they didn’t have anything scheduled, so Dean decided he would take them all out for a hike. Most of them had probably spent their morning crammed in cars, so he might as well let them stretch their legs.

Dean decided to take them through the woods, and around the lake. It would take a few hours, and they would be exhausted, but it would just in time for lunch, insuring that they would be well-behaved. 

They marched past the dining hall in time to see Cas leave. 

“Hey, buddy!” Dean called, waving Cas over. 

“Where are you off to?” He asked, glancing at the campers.

“A hike. Wanna join?” He flashed Cas his very best Dean Winchester smile, and hoped that it would work it’s charm. Cas probably knew all the best spots on the camp grounds, and could give them a little tour. That was definitely the reason Dean was inviting him along. 

“I was going to go sketch,” he admitted, holding up his sketchbook as evidence. “I don’t know…”

“Oh, come on. It’ll be fun. Exercise is good for you.”

Cas rolled his eyes. “I’m very aware of that, Dean. I run every morning.”

Dean raised his eyebrows. “No shit? When?”

“Before breakfast. You see, some people wake up before ten minutes before breakfast.” He snarked and Dean smirked. 

“Well, those kind of people are savages. I don’t believe in rising before the sun.”

“We know! We always have to wake you up!” Victor reminded him, and suddenly Dean remembered that oh yeah, his campers were all standing there watching him flirt. 

Dean reached over and squeezed Cas’s shoulder. “Come on, go hiking with us.”

Cas sighed. “Alright.”

Dean grinned, and clapped his hands together. “Awesome! Kids, you guys all know Castiel, right? He makes all of your food. He’s going to be joining us today for our hike.”

Because they were young and took everything Dean said with enthusiasm as gold, they all cheered, pumping their fists with a “yessss!”

They walked past Cas’s cabin, where he ran inside to drop off his sketchbook, and brought back disposable water bottles for Dean and all the kids. Oh yeah, he probably should’ve thought of that, being their counselor and all. Whoops. 

He had the kids all chime in a chorus of “Thank you Mr. Castiel!” To which Cas rolled his eyes. It was strange, for someone who was seemingly uncomfortable around kids, they all seemed to really like him. 

Dean thought it was probably because Cas talked to the boys like they were adults, rather than a bunch of dumb kids. That was something that always pissed Dean off when he was younger, so he appreciated how Cas handled them.

The group had started out as a line, with Cas and Dean walking side by side at the head, but they had quickly turned into an organized blob, with Cas in the back. 

Ash was currently teaching Cas everything he knew about computers (way more than Dean did), and Cas was nodding along seriously, taking everything he said into careful consideration, and asking questions at the appropriate time. On the other side of him, Garth had latched on, and Cas held his hand kindly. 

Dean watched the chef interact with his kids, and he felt a flush of-endearment? Admiration? He wasn’t sure, but it made him feel good to watch his campers swarm around Cas like he was Jesus Christ himself. 

Ben, who was walking up in the front with Dean, watched the whole affair carefully.

“Hey Dean?”  
“Yeah, dude?”

Ben looked back at Cas, and then to Dean again, thinking hard. “Is Mr. Castiel your brother?”

The question surprised Dean into a laugh. “Nope, why do you ask? Do we look alike?”

The camper shrugged. “No, not really. But Sam’s your brother, and you guys don’t really look alike. I just thought maybe Mr. Castiel was your brother too.”

Dean shook his head. “Nope, he’s just my friend.” _Just_ a friend. 

Ben nodded. “Okay. I was just wondering. You were really happy to see him, and you’re always happy to see Sam, so I just figured.”

Dean tousled Ben’s hair, and told him to stop thinking so hard. 

Cas spent the rest of the hike walking with the campers, both men busied by the chatty kids, but they kept catching each other’s eyes, and when they did, it made Dean’s stomach lurch. He tried to keep his staring to a minimum, but it was hard. Cas looked so unbelievably hot, with a tiny sweat stain on his collar, as they walked the trail. Dean wondered what it said about him that Cas was suddenly twice as attractive now that Dean knew he was good with kids. 

A hand slipped into his, and Dean up to see Cas smiling at him. It wasn't Cas holding his hand, though, it was Garth, holding both of their hands. 

Cas tried to stifle a laugh at Garth, who swung their hands back and forth, and Dean attempted to force his blush away, which only made his face burn more. 

“I love camp,” Garth declared happily. 

“Me too, dude.” Dean agreed. “Me too.”


	3. We Have to Go Back

Dean woke up to the sound of well, _children_. Suspicious thumps, whoopees, and giggling threatened to burst his ear drums. Dean usually slept with his bedroom door opened a crack, just in case. He sat up in bed and through the crack, could see the horrifying image of Ben flying across the room. 

He was leaping out of his sleeping bag and in the main room of the cabin in no time, halting the entire scenario. The kids all stopped their shenanigans, and looked up at Dean guiltily.

He raised an eyebrow. “Really? Jumping from our bunk beds?”

Victor and Ben looked a little defiant, Kevin, Ash, and Andy had the decency to look ashamed, and Garth burst into tears.

“I’m sorry Dean!” He wailed. Dean’s face softened. Shit, he didn’t mean to make the kid cry. He was sort of hoping that he could use his Mean Dean Voice and the kids would apologize and swear to never do it again. 

“Dude, shut up!” Ben sneered. “You were too scared to jump anyway.”

“Yeah, you’re such a baby.” Victor added. “Grow up.”

“I am not!” Garth protested, but he only cried harder. He crossed his arms over his bent knees, and tucked his head in. He looked so tiny, rolled up in a ball of Garth. 

Fuck, time to do damage control. 

“Victor, Ben- outside, now. On the porch. I’ll be there in a moment.”

The two boys made noises of protest. “That’s not fair! It’s still dark outside!” Dean glanced out the cabin window. Oh, it was. It was probably early morning, the sun would probably rise in an hour or two. Too late, Dean was already awake. 

“Wow, that sucks,” Dean said sarcastically. “Outside.”

The boys slumped their shoulders and shuffled outside. 

He turned back to the rest of the kids, who were all staring at Dean, apart from Garth, who was still curled up in a ball. 

“The rest of you, go to sleep. Now. If I hear another peep out of any of you, then I’m letting my good pal Benny know that we won’t be swimming for the rest of the week.” Oh yeah, he was definitely using his Mean Dean Voice. 

Kevin squeaked in protest, but then covered his mouth, eyes wide. Nobody wanted to miss _swimming_. Everyone but Garth scrambled to get back into their rightful bunks, and into their sleeping bags. 

Dean carefully made his way to Garth, and sat next to him. “Hey, buddy, you okay?” The Mean Dean Voice had melted away, replaced by a more gentle, sympathetic Dean. 

“‘M not a baby.” He mumbled, his head still buried.

“Dude, ‘course not. You’re the most mature one here.”

Garth peeked out from his shell. “Really?” He asked, suspiciously. 

“Kid, are you serious?” Dean scoffed. “You’re the only one who wasn’t jumping around in the middle of the night, making a ruckus. That’s like, way more grownup than the rest of these clowns.” 

Garth sat up. “Yeah, I guess that makes sense.”

Dean puffed his chest out. “I know, I’m the one who said it.” He faked a yawn. “Wanna hit the sack?”

Garth nodded, and started to get into his sleeping bag. He paused for a moment, looked over at Dean, and threw himself into his arms, hugging him tightly. “Thank you, Dean.”

Dean went back out on the porch, where Victor and Ben were sitting on the steps, hugging themselves. It was chilly out, mostly due to the fact that it was the middle of the night, and they looked pissed.

“Guys, really? Bullying?” Dean asked, scooting himself down in between the pair. “I thought you guys were better than that.”

“We weren’t bullying him!” Ben protested. “It’s just annoying that he always cries!”

Dean shook his head. “No dude, you were. I did that shit enough times when I was your age to know better.” 

The pair looked at him, wide-eyed.

“You were a bully?” Victor asked. “But you’re so nice.”

“So is Garth,” Dean said, raising his eyebrows. Oh god, please let them get the message here. 

They both nodded. “We should probably be nice to him, huh?” Ben asked, reluctantly. 

“Yeah, probably,” Dean agreed. “How many friends do you think he has, huh? Camp is supposed to be where kids get away from all that, so it kinda sucks that even here he has to feel crappy.”

The lightbulb went off. “Sorry,” they both mumbled. 

“Hey, don’t tell me, tell Garth. You guys are both great kids, there’s no reason for you to act that way.” 

The boys promised to apologize to Garth in the morning, and the three went back into the cabin for a few more hours of sleep. 

***

Dean eyed Sam from across the dining hall, as he flirted with Jessica. Son of a bitch, Dean’s little brother was _flirting_. 

The pair was sitting next to each other, bodies curved inwards like parenthesis, sharing a secret. They were in their own little bubble, giggling together quietly. Sure, it was middle school style of flirting, but that didn’t mean it wasn’t any less flirty. Sam must of said something _hilarious_ , because Jess threw her head back and cackled, and Sam beamed at her proudly. Dean chuckled. 

“What’s so funny?” Jo asked, leaning over to see what Dean was looking at. 

“Oh, it’s just,” he gestured at his brother, “my brother Sam. Flirting away.”

“That’s one of my campers!” Jo exclaimed. “They’re so cute!”

Dean smirked. “I’ve never seen my brother in action, he’s pretty smooth.”

“Smoother than you, at least,” Charlie said, joining the conversation. Gabriel nodded. 

“What the hell does that mean?” Dean barked, and the group laughed at him. 

“Your little crush on my brother,” Gabe said, “is not smooth.”

At the mention of Castiel, Dean straightened up, and glanced around nervously. Dean hadn’t exactly admitted to his friends that he was into the camp chef, but they had somehow figured it the fuck out on their own. Great.

“Okay good, so I’m not the only one who’s noticed it, thank god. I was going crazy,” Jo said, and Dean tried not to glare at her. 

They still hadn’t been served their food yet, so Dean sat patiently and waited for his waffles, pointedly ignoring his friends as they gossiped in front of him. 

“Yeah, are we going to talk about the big bisexual elephant in the room, or what?” Charlie asked, leaning in. “Everyone’s talking about you guys.”

“No they’re not,” Dean moaned. 

“Not what?” A voice asked, and Dean turned around in time to see Cas slipping in beside him, handing him the coffee. When Dean opened his mouth to ask what the hell Cas was doing next to him, he said, “it’s oatmeal today, I think my assistants can handle passing out the bowls.” 

Dean smirked. “So you decided to grace the rest of the staff with your presence and eat with us?” He quirked an eyebrow. 

Cas rolled his eyes. “I usually eat in the kitchen with Anna.”

“Who’s Anna?” 

“Yeaaah, who’s Anna?” Gabriel asked, resting his head on his fist, and grinning up at Cas. Balthazar, who was sitting next to Gabe and had been a silent watcher up until then, echoed Gabriel’s question, and mimicked his pose. The pair sitting side by side looked like a recipe for absolute disaster, and they could probably cook up more mischief than all of the campers combined. 

Cas furrowed his eyebrows. “Anna is one of the kitchen assistants, and my friend. She’s worked here for years, you guys both know that.” 

“We were teasing you, Cassie,” Balthazar told him, sipping from his mug. “Hey, how come you never get me any coffee, like you do for Winchester over here?” He gestured to Dean with his mug, and Dean realized that he had yet to take even a sip of his own coffee.

Cas frowned harder, if that was a thing people could do. “Because he gets tired in the morning.”

Balthazar and Gabriel burst into a round of giggles, and Dean scowled. 

Cas reached over and patted his knee. It was casual, and only lasted for about a few seconds. It was something any friend would do to another friend to comfort them when said friend’s other friends were being assholes to the other friend. 

Dean told himself this, but the butterflies in his stomach weren’t really listening. 

Dean was scheduled for cabin time next, which he usually spent letting the boys hang out and do basically whatever they wanted. Andy and Ash usually whipped out legos and comic books, and the rest of the Cabin Terra would shuffle together and join in. 

At the end of breakfast, however, after Cas had left to go back into the kitchen, Gabriel wandered over, and announced that he was commandeering Dean’s cabin. Dean wasn’t really sure when he left the table, he hadn’t been paying super close attention, but he was back, and taking Dean’s kids. 

Dean raised an eyebrow. “Okay chuckles, and where is it exactly that you’re taking my kids?”

“To the soccer field. We need more players.” Gabriel shrugged. He was rummaging through his backpack casually, as if it was perfectly normal to want to take on twice as many kids as usual. 

“Okay, first of all, we don’t have a soccer field. Second of all, why?” Dean still wasn’t really sure if Gabriel was his friend or his enemy, or neither, to be perfectly honest. During staff training, he made sure to “welcome” him to Kripke, and by that he meant pranking him at every given moment. Seriously, Dean thought that replacing someone’s body wash with syrup was something that only frat boys did in movies but nope, apparently so did short camp counselors. 

“Aha.” Gabriel said, pulling out a bag of Twizzlers. “I knew I had some in here,” he explained. He pulled one out and stuck it in his mouth like a cigarette. “To answer your question Deanny-boy-”

“Don’t call me that.”

“To _answer your question_ , we do have a soccer field. It’s a grassy patch next to the lake, and everyone knows you can play soccer any place that has a ball and a flat surface. We have both.”

Dean rolled his eyes, and reached over and plucked a Twizzler from the bag. “Okay, fair enough, but you didn’t answer the second question. _Why_?”

Gabriel shrugged. “You could use a break. Go hang out.”

“Not good enough.”

He sighed exasperatedly, and placed a hand on Dean’s shoulder. “Look, today is Wednesday. You’re stuck with your boys non-stop until Friday night. You’re still a newbie, you must be exhausted, right?”

Dean didn’t want to admit it, but he was basically tired all the time. It didn’t feel like a burden, because he loved every moment of it.

“I guess so,” he said begrudgedly. 

Gabriel nodded, and removed his hand from Dean’s shoulder. “So go take a breather. For like, an hour. Please.”

“Okay,” he agreed. “For an hour.” 

Gabriel clapped his hands together. “Great!” he headed over to the other side of the dining hall to collect he kids. A few paces away, and he turned around. “Oh and Dean? Cas might need some help in the kitchen,” he winked. 

Oh, shit. 

***

Dean tentatively stuck his head in the kitchen, to find Cas in the middle of two very angry women. 

They were Cas’s assistant, and although Dean had seen them around camp and in the mess hall, he he had yet to talk to either one of them. This was mostly due to the fact that anything that was brought to the staff table was almost always by Cas, but still, Dean didn’t even know their names, and this was the third week of camp. 

“I don’t care, _you_ fucking broke it!” The brunette one was saying. “Look at all these dishes, Anna! What are you going to do, lick it clean?”

“ _I did not break it_!” The redhead-Anna apparently-screeched. “It was fine when I started it last night. If anything, it’s all messed up because you always cram more dishes in it than it can handle!” 

“Anna, Meg, please stop it,” Cas said miserably. 

The pair turned their fury on to Cas. “Well, what are we supposed to do? We have all the breakfast dishes, and lunch is in four hours!” Meg protested.

“Cas, seriously, it’s a mess in here,” Anna said. 

“What seems to be the problem?” Dean asked. The three turned to him, and all started talking at once:

“I believe our only dishwasher is broken.”

“Well someone broke our fucking washing machine last night-”

“You seriously can’t put so many dishes in and Meg always forces more dishes in than it can take!”

Dean held up his hands. “Guys, guys! I get it, the dishwasher is broken. Can I look at it?”

Anna’s mouth opened to protest, but Meg cut her off. “Sounds brilliant, Dean. Go right on ahead.” She smiled at him broadly, and Dean suspected that she was patronizing him, but he walked over to the dishwasher anyway. 

“What’s wrong with it?”

“Okay, look.” Meg pulled up the lever, lifting the enormous steel box up, and pushed it down again. “Lock’s in place, soap’s there, but when I press the ‘start’ button,” she flicked the button, and the dishwasher made some moans and groans, and some water swished around, but then it stopped, “that happens.”

Cas sighed. “We have so many dishes to do,” he said. 

Dean lifted the lever back up, and slide the tray of dishes back out. The rusty machine creaked, and gross water splashed everywhere. 

Dean wrinkled his nose. “Ugh, dude, how old is this damn thing?”

Cas shrugged. “It’s been in the kitchen for as long as I can remember.”

“Okay, so clearly she’s lived a good long life, can we all agree?”

The three kitchen staff nodded. 

“And… do you think maybe we can afford to get a new one? Like, I know that Kripke doesn’t have a ton of money, but maybe we can splurge a little…”

The back door swung open, and the four of them jumped. 

“Alright you idjits, what’s goin’ on in here? I can hear ya yelling all the way up in my office!” Bobby came storming in, looking more like a cross father than an angry boss.

“The dishwasher is broken,” Dean explained. 

Bobby’s mouth split into a grin. “Dean! How are you? I’ve hardly spoken to you all summer!” He clapped Dean on the back. That wasn’t entirely true, Bobby was the one who ran their staff training, almost a month ago, and technically they saw each other every day in the mess hall, but yeah, they hadn’t really spoken all summer.

“I’m good,” he replied. “Cas over here needs a new dishwasher, I’m pretty sure it’s older than you are.” 

Bobby shrugged. “S’that all?” He glanced at Cas, and then tsked. “It’s your money boy, I don’t care what you do with it.”

He patted Dean on the arm again, warned Meg and Anna that they “better be behaving down here,” and then went back upstairs to his office. 

Dean jerked his head. “Your money?”

Cas shrugged. “Long story. I’ll order one tonight.” He glanced at Meg and Anna, who both looked a little miffed still. “Why don’t you two go take a break until lunchtime? I’ll do the dishes.”

They both nodded gratefully, but didn’t protest, and left. 

Once again, Dean was left alone in the kitchen with Cas. 

“So… want help with those dishes?” 

Cas exhaled. “I thought you’d never ask.”

So they set to work. There was way more dishes than Dean thought possible, and it was kind of disgusting because it was oatmeal, and honestly dishes were Dean’s least favorite chore, but he set to work nonetheless.

Dean filled his half of the dual sink with hot soapy water and scrubbed, while Cas rinsed and dried. It was quiet for a few minutes, just the occasional sound of little splashes, and the clatter of plates. It was still kinda gross, but Dean had rubber gloves, and the water made him warm. 

“Thank you for helping me,” Cas murmured. “You didn’t have to.” 

Dean knocked his shoulder against Cas’s. They were standing so close. “That’s what friends are for, dude. I got you.”

They worked in silence again for a few moments, until Cas spoke up again. “You know, Balthazar was sure that we were having a lover’s quarrel when he walked in on us last week.”

Dean’s face burned. There were so many things in that sentence that Dean couldn’t focus on just one thing. Instead, he very eloquently said, “uh, what?”

“Last week. I was showing you the kitchen, and I got a little emotional. Do you remember that?” Cas tilted his head in confusion, as if Dean could really forget about that. Honestly, it’s all he thought about all week. 

“‘Course I remember that, dude.”

“Balthazar was sure that you were the reason that I was upset. I suppose he doesn’t know me as well as he think he does.” 

Dean was currently working on the large pot that the oatmeal had been cooked in, scrubbing at the sticky oats. “Oh yeah? You two good friends?”

Cas nodded. “We grew up together. I guess I would qualify him as my best friend.” 

Jesus, these little flecks of disgusting oatmeal wouldn’t leave the pan. He scrubbed harder. “You guys high school sweethearts or something?”

Cas squinted at him. “Balthazar is my friend. He’s also very straight.” He paused, and dried some dishes for a few moments before continuing. “No, he went to camp here every summer growing up, and fell in love with the place. He fell into working here, just like I did.”

Back to that again. Why was it that Cas worked here against his will? According to Gabriel, their parents owned the camp at some point, so he probably had a lot of influence around here, right? It’s not like anyone was holding him hostage. 

“Sounds like a good guy,” Dean said, for lack of anything better to say. 

“Do you have a best friend?” Cas asked suddenly. It was such an awkward question, and it threw Dean for a loop, because he’d never been asked that before. 

Dean shook his head, and handed him another plate. “No, I don’t think so. I always moved around a lot when I was a kid, so I never had the chance.” He thought about it for a moment. “I guess you could say Sammy’s my best friend, but I’m not sure if that counts, because we’re brothers.”

“He’s the one in Gabriel’s cabin, right?”

“Yep. God, he hated me for making him do camp this year, but I had to. He’s starting to like it though, I think.”

Cas nodded. “Didn’t want to work here all summer without him?” He started a second stack of plates.

The thing is, no one at camp besides Bobby really knew about their little arrangement for Sam to get to go to camp, and Dean hadn’t really planned on changing that. First of all, he didn’t want people asking tons of questions, like why the hell their parents couldn’t pay for it, and second of all, if he told people why he was there, then it would eventually get back to Sam. And Dean like really, really did not want Sam knowing about that. 

He also really did not want to lie to Castiel, for some reason. 

Fuck it.

“Alright,” he sighed. “You told me a secret, so I’m going to return to favor.”

“Okay,” Cas said, turning to him. 

Dean set down the dish he had been working on, and slid off his gloves. “So, Bobby and I have this sort of deal going on.”

Cas motioned for him to continue, so he did. “Well, Sam’s thirteen. He’s gonna have to grow up pretty soon, and so am I. I figured, ‘hey, let’s have one last good summer together, before we have to face adulthood’. ‘Cept, the way we live, we can’t really do that, y’know?”

“No, I don’t.”

Right, he should probably explain that part, too. “Right so, my dad, he’s a detective. My mom died in a house fire when I was four, and we think it’s due to arson.” He paused, and waited for the inevitable _oh my god, I’m so sorry_ , that came along with explaining this to people, but it never came. Cas just waited politely, so Dean continued.

“Anyway, so my dad became obsessed, like, that’s all he cared about. He started doing some digging, got a license, and now he’s a private detective. Thing is, he takes on cases all over the country, so we’re always moving.”

He hated just standing there, all exposed, so he slipped the rubber gloves back on, and started scrubbing dishes while he talked. Cas didn’t start drying again, he just stood there and stared at Dean. 

“Bobby was good friends with my dad in high school, and I knew that he ran Kripke, so I called him up, and we worked it out so that Sam could come here. I knew Dad wouldn’t be behind Sam coming up here, he’d call it childish and a waste of money, but I knew that Sam would just spend all summer miserable in the Impala, so I begged Bobby to give us some sort of discount. Instead, he let Sam come to camp if I worked for free.”

Dean stole a look at Cas, trying to gauge his reaction. For a moment, it appeared as if there was a twinkle in his eye, and he smiled. It was small, and Dean thought it was sort of cute.

“What?” He blurted, unsure of why the hell Cas would be smiling at him.

“You’re eighteen years old,” he said, as if that was a fucking answer. 

“Yeah, so?”

The chef shrugged. “So? You could be spending your summer doing whatever you want. You could be out with your friends getting wasted, meeting girls, going to parties, anything. You instead chose to work all summer for free, so that your little brother could have a good time. That’s pretty amazing, Dean.”

Dean’s face turned red, and his eyes stayed steadily focused on the dishes. “It’s not that special.”

Cas reached over and squeezed his shoulder, and even though his hand was slightly damp from the towel, it made Dean’s stomach flip. “Yes, you are.”

His eyes burned, and he pushed away the urge to cry. “I bet if Balthazar came in now, he’d make quite the scene, eh?”

Cas sighed. “I told him that we were not romantically inclined, but I don’t think he believed me,” he said sadly. 

Dean snorted. “Yeah, him and Gabriel both. They think that I’m like some poor hopeless girl, pining away for the mysterious yet alluring man hiding out in the kitchen.”

Dean half expected Castiel to take him seriously, but instead, Cas did the opposite: he laughed. It wasn’t the slight smirk and possible chuckle that Dean was used to drawing out of Cas. No, Cas burst into a fit of giggles like a little kid. He bent over the sink, clutching the towel he had been drying dishes with.

A strange, warm feeling, bubbled in his stomach, and it took him a minute to realize that he was feeling that just because Cas was laughing. Dean stared at the man, his hands still wrist deep in soapy water. 

“I’m sorry,” Cas said, wiping his eyes. “I just-that’s such a funny thing to say about me. I’d never describe myself as ‘mysterious yet alluring’ in my entire life.”

“I said that’s how Gabriel sees it, not how I see it,” Dean said, handing him another dish. 

Cas snorted. “Gabriel is too nosy.”

“Yeah,” Dean agreed, remembering the first day he met Gabe, during staff training. He had cornered Dean at their orientation, asking Dean about a hundred questions pertaining to his personal life. How old is he? Where did he live? Does he have siblings? How did he get a job here? What was his favorite candy? 

“He was such a pain to grow up with. I love my brother, but he loves to meddle.” Cas said, heaving up a large stack of plates, and sliding them into their place on the shelf. “He-” Cas froze.

“What?”

“Shit.” Cas groaned, covering his face with his hands. Dean had never heard him swear before.

“ _What?_ ”

Cas marched over to the abandoned dishwasher, and patted the sides up and down, searching for something. “Uh, Cas, what are you looking for?”

“I’ll know it when I see it,” Cas said, getting on his knees and looking under the old machine. “Aha” He produced a small bag of Skittles, that had been taped underneath. 

Oh god. “Fucking Gabriel.”

Cas smiled. “Fucking Gabriel.”

***

“So, wanna tell me why you broke Cas’s dishwasher?” Dean asked casually, as he wandered over to the ‘soccer field’.

Gabriel grinned. “I have no idea what you’re talking about, Dean. Did Cas’s dishwasher break?”

Dean rolled his eyes, and shoved him. “What’d you do to it, Gabe?”

The toothless grin curled further up his snarky little face, and he dug around in his back pocket before producing a small elastic band. “It’s funny how one little change can make all the difference.”

“You little shit.”

“Hey, I left Skittles!” He whined. “And he needed a new one, anyway. He’s been bitching about it for three years.”

Dean whistled. “Damn. How long has he been working in there?”

Gabriel thought for a moment. “Well, he was a counselor for a couple years, and then decided that that wasn’t his thing, and then Dad let him work in the kitchen the year before he left and that was...four years ago? Yeah, four years ago.”

“Oh man, you guys really have been here forever,” Dean said, raising his eyebrows. 

Gabriel puffed out his chest proudly. “My whole life.”

Dean wanted to ask what Gabriel meant by their dad leaving, but Sam came jogging towards them, his face red, but grinning. 

“Hey guys! Dean, do you wanna play soccer with us? Your cabin needs one more player.” He was breathing heavily, and sweating. Damn, Gabriel worked those kids hard. 

“No way dude, and get all sweaty and gross like you? Get outta here,” he said, elbowing him. “I gotta go take my kids to canoes, anyway.”

“Okay, have fun!” Sam said, jogging away. 

“You got a good kid,” Gabriel said, still standing next to Dean. “I think he’s my favorite.”

“Oh yeah? That’s too bad, he can’t stand you.” Dean teased. Gabriel rolled his eyes.

***

The members of Cabin Terra could not fucking contain themselves. They were running around the cabin, bouncing up and down ( _not_ jumping off bunk beds) and begging Dean to hurry up. 

Yep, it was movie night. 

“We’re going to be late!” Kevin pouted, hopping from one foot to the other. 

“We’re not going to be late,” Dean said, zipping up his sweatshirt. He scanned his kids. “Everyone got what they need? Pillows? Flashlights? Blankets?”

“Yeees!” The kids chorused. Dean’s eye landed on Andy.

“Andy, put a sweatshirt on.” 

The boy’s shoulder slumped. “I’m gonna get too hot!” 

Dean shook his head. “Nope, not good enough. It’s gonna get really cold out in like, an hour and I’m not gonna walk you back here to get one.”

“I’m not gonna get cold!” He protested. 

Dean crossed his arms and raised an eyebrow. “‘Kay, two options: either put on a sweatshirt, or change out of those shorts. Cover at least half of your limbs.”

The kid groaned, and started digging through his duffel bag. He grumbled a little, but eventually produced a hoodie that had a picture of Bob Marley on it, and pushed his head through it.

Their counselor smiled. “There, was that so hard?”

Out of all the activities available at Kripke, canoeing, rock climbing, swimming, archery, you would think that movie nights would be sort of...boring, in comparison. Dean had assumed that it would just be an old TV that Bobby would wheel out in the mess hall, and kids would just chatter through it, not paying attention. 

Instead, the campers met up at the hillside near the archery field, where Bobby set up an old projector and screen. They all brought pillows and blankets, and curled into whatever movie Bobby had picked out for them to watch. Usually, he would take suggestions from the kids at lunch time, and this week, they were watching _Back to the Future_. 

Last time they had movie night, Dean started the movie sitting upright, and ended up stretched out on the grass, asleep. His kids poked him awake, giggling. Well, that wasn’t going to happen this time: Dean loved _Back to the Future_ , and was going to try his damndest to not fall asleep. 

Cabin Terra had the youngest kids at camp, so Dean had planned on arriving at the screen earlier than everyone else, so they could get good seats. Somehow, that didn’t work out. In fact, they were the last cabin to arrive. The boys didn’t seem to notice, and they started setting up their blankets and pillows. Dean spotted Cas standing in the back with coffee, and he wandered over to him. 

“Hey, come here often?”

Cas gave him a funny look, and handed him one of the cups. “Not really. I used to love movie night when I was a camper, but I don’t think I’ve gone for the past few years. I usually just go to my cabin and read.”

Dean laughed, and clapped Cas on the back. “That’s not what I… nevermind. Hey, whatcha got there?” He pointed to the thing that was thrown over his shoulder. 

“Oh! I brought a chair. Dual chair, actually.” He set the bag on the ground, and slid it out of it’s case. Lo and behold, it was indeed a folding chair. The chair had two seats, and Cas sat down in one of them. 

“The other side is for you, Dean. I brought it so we could watch the movie together.” 

Dean tried to ignore the fact that Cas came to the movie night specifically to not only see Dean, but watch a movie with him, and bring him coffee. He sat down beside Cas, and took a sip of the coffee.

“Damn, I don’t know what you do, but you always make the best coffee.”

Cas chuckled. “You also have been drinking strictly coffee made by me all summer. It’s probably had an effect on your taste buds.”

“Maybe,” Dean shrugged. “All I know is- I was worried about falling asleep during the movie, and this coffee will prevent that. You’re perfect.”

Cas’s lips pursed, like he was trying to stop himself from smiling, and he looked down at his lap. “I was just trying to do a kind gesture. To thank you.”

“For what?”

“For helping me the other day. With the uh, with the dishes. Sure, it was my brother’s fault that it was broken, but it was nice of you to help me.”

Dean took another gulp of his coffee. Damn, it was some great coffee. “Did you decide on getting a new one?” 

Cas nodded. “Yes, I ordered one last night. It should get here next week. Until then, I will be stuck washing dishes by hand.”

“What? Why can’t you just put the part back that Gabriel stole? That was the only thing that was wrong with it, right?”

Cas sighed, exasperated. “He doesn’t know how to put it back. He’s tried, I’ve tried, and Bobby’s tried. The machine’s too old.”

Dean barked a laugh. “Goddamnit Gabriel,” he said, shaking his head. “That sucks, dude. Hey, any time you need help this weekend with dishes, let me know.”

Cas considered this. “Maybe. Technically, it’s Anna and Meg’s job, so I might just leave it to them.”

The sun finally finished setting, and the movie turned on. Most of the kids in Dean’s cabin had said they’d never seen the movie before, and apparently the rest of the camp hadn’t either, because as soon as Marty McFly got blasted into the book shelves by the enormous speakers, the hoard of kids were hushed into a silence, eyes glued to the screen. Good movie pick, Bobby. 

Sitting with Cas was… nice. After a while, Dean unfolded the blanket he had brought, and set it over their legs. Cas smiled at him, and Dean just had to smile back.

By the time Marty was meeting up with Doc from 1955, Cas’s arm was leaning against Dean, the warm weight of his friend was comfortable and relaxing. Inch by inch, their hands dragged towards each other, until their hands were touching, too. 

Fuck it, Dean thought, and he slid his hand up against Cas’s in invitation. Cas grinned to himself, and laced their fingers together. Cas’s thumb rubbed circles against Dean’s hand, and pleasure shot through his body. 

“Goddammit, we’re worse than the campers,” Dean said. 

Cas shook his head, grinning. “Probably, yes.” 

Jo turned around to shush them, and when she saw how Dean was leaning into Cas, and how the blanket was draped over them, her shush quickly turned into a devilish grin. 

“Oh, hey guys,” she said, winking. 

Dean waved. “Hey Jo. Go back to your movie.” 

She rolled her eyes, but then turned back around to face the screen. A few other people, both campers and staff looked at them curiously, but let it go. 

This probably wasn’t helping the rumors that were apparently being spread, but Dean didn’t really care. He leaned into Cas, and soaked up the warmth. Their hands were resting on their legs now, still laced together. Their arms no longer stretched across the fold out chair shyly, and they were comfortably leaning against each other on one side. 

It was warm and cozy, and the familiarity of _Back to Future_ lulled him. He let his eyes droop.

“This is my favorite movie,” Dean muttered into Cas’s shoulder.

“You’re falling asleep, Dean,” Cas said. 

“No ‘m not.”

Cas chuckled. “Whatever you say, Dean.” He tugged up the blanket, so that it was covering Dean’s shoulders. 

***

A sharp jab in the side jolted Dean awake. 

“Fuck, what’s happening?” He asked, looking around. It was darker outside than before, and Dean could just barely make out what was happening on the screen. 

“I think the movie’s almost over, you should probably wake up,” Cas whispered apologetically. 

Dean sat up, and removed his hand from Cas’s. “Probably,” he agreed, pressing the heels of his hands to his eyes. 

Cas was right, the movie was almost over. Marty McFly had just woken up in his own bed, and discovered that his present had been changed for the better. 

“I love this movie,”

“I know, you told me. It’s pretty good, better than I expected.”

Dean’s neck almost snapped from how quickly he turned to face Cas. “You telling me you’ve never seen _Back to the Future_ , before?

Cas shook his head. “I barely leave camp. When would I have seen it?”

Dean gaped. “I can’t believe this.”

They watched the rest of the film in silence, and when Doc declared that where they were going, they didn’t need roads, and flew the Delorean up into the sky, Dean grinned. Definitely the best movie ever. 

“I like that they set the movie up so that you can imagine many more adventures for Marty,” Cas commented, as the screen turned off and the kids started gathering their things.

“Dude, you know there’s a second and third movie, right?”

“Is there?”

Dean groaned. He wasn’t joking about never having seen the movies before. “Seriously, Cas?”

“Where else do they go?” They stood up, and Cas started packing up his folding chair.  
Dean opened his mouth to explain the plots, but then shook his head. “Uh-uh. You have to watch them and find out.”

***

Dean gathered up his campers and took them back to Cabin Terra, ignoring several yawning protests that they weren’t tired. 

He led them to the bathrooms across the trail and back to the cabin. “Bed, now.” He ordered, watching as six little boys sleepily climbed into their beds. 

“Did you guys like the movie?” Dean asked them, as they slipped into their sleeping bags.

“Yeaaaah…” they chorused, rubbing their eyes. Oh yeah, they were all about to be knocked out real soon. Dean had seen that same look on Sammy’s face all too often. The look that said _I really really want to stay up and play because exciting things are happening but also I’m exhausted and everything feels heavy._

He went back to his bedroom and gathered up his stuff so he could go shower in the bathrooms, and when he came back out, a few of the campers were softly arguing from their beds. 

“What’s going on, guys?”

“Dean!” Ben sat up from his top bunk, and was suddenly very awake. “Is Mr. Castiel your brother?”

Dean frowned. “Uh, no. Didn’t you already ask that?”

“See!” Ben sneered across the room, to where Victor was sitting up in his bunk, arms crossed.

“See what?” Dean asked. He didn’t like where this was going. 

“This is so stupid,” Andy said, his face muffled by the pillow he was currently smashing his own face into. “Who cares?”

“ _I_ care! Dean is cool, and I wanna know!” Kevin shot back. Apart from Andy, and Ash, who had already fallen asleep, the whole cabin was wide awake, and sitting up in their bunks. 

“Know what, exactly?” He wasn’t using his Mean Dean Voice, not yet anyway. It was closer to his Stern Dean Voice, which was few levels lower. 

The cabin suddenly had nothing to say at all. 

“Hey, if you guys are talking about me, I probably have the right to know what it’s about, right?” He crossed his arms. 

It was Garth who finally spoke up: “Ben thinks that Mr. Castiel is your boyfriend, but Victor thinks that’s stupid.”

“I don’t think it’s stupid!” Victor hollered. “Mr. Castiel and Dean can be boyfriend and boyfriend if they want! I said _you’re_ stupid.” He directed this to Ben, who squawked in protest. 

Oh, shit. Even the campers were noticing Dean’s stupid little crush. His face burned. “W-why would you think that?” 

Ben shrugged. “I just thought he was. I dunno, am I wrong?”

“I-yes. Cas is not my boyfriend.”

A sly grin formed on little Garth’s face. “But do you want him to be your boyfriend?”

Son of a bitch. Lying had never really been Dean’s forte, and suddenly four little kids were asking him things he wasn’t even telling the truth to himself about.

Ben’s face brightened when he saw Dean’s blush. “You do! I knew it! You like Cas!”

If you touched Dean’s face right at that moment, you would probably burn your fucking finger off. He opened the door to their cabin, and stood in the threshold. “Shut up, go to bed,” he told them. The kids whispered excitedly to each other for a beat before Dean interrupted them to say, “and stop talking about it, you little freaks!” 

The boys giggled, and laid back down.


	4. A Casual Pride Stride

You know, Dean loved his campers more than anything. He really did. He loved how Ash was half his age and knew anything and everything about computers. He loved when Garth would timidly hold his hand, and whisper that he wished Dean was his brother. He loved Ben for loving Zeppelin maybe more than Dean did. He loved Kevin who read Lord of the Rings during cabin time. He even loved Victor who was a huge tattle-tale, and Andy who spent most of his time goofing off.

He loved these kids, but he really really _really_ loved the weekends when they went home. 

It sounded terrible, but Charlie told him she felt the same way, so maybe he wasn’t totally evil. 

“No, but some of my campers might be,” she told him. They were sitting on the porch of Cabin Terra, signing their kids out. The kids from Smoke Cabin slowly trailed out with their parents, and wandered over to get signed out by Charlie. 

“And how was she this week?” A man, who gave Dean the absolute creeps, asked Charlie as he signed the clipboard. 

Charlie plastered on her fake smile, using what Dean calls the Parent Voice. “Oh, Lilith was great! She’s definitely has a lot of um, leadership qualities.” 

The parent practically preened at the “compliment”, and Dean suppressed a snicker. Lilith was honestly one of the worst campers at Kripke. Too many times, he had heard of her explosive tantrums, and he’s caught a few of them enough to know of their horrors. 

“Well, we’ll see you on Monday.” The man said, just as his little girl ran up. She threw her arms around Charlie. 

“Bye Charlie! See you next week!” She grinned, but Dean could see behind her facade of sweetness. Her white t-shirt was covered in a dark red stain, and Dean asked Charlie about it once they left. 

“Ugh. She spilled grape juice on it. At least, that’s what she’s told me. I didn’t see it happen.” Charlie shuddered. “Did you know that she tried to cut my hair in my sleep?” 

“Oh god, really?” Dean was grateful that his cabin was full of good kids, and not the little monsters that Charlie had to deal with in Cabin Smoke. 

“Yes!” She moaned. “I had to start locking my room at night! Who does that? Who else in this entire camp has to lock their doors? No one!”

Dean patted her on the back, sympathetically. “I’m sorry, dude.” He definitely didn’t blame her for complaining, he didn’t trust any of her campers either.  
Garth came out of the cabin with his stuff, hugging Dean before he left, and Dean handed the clipboard to his mother to sign out. 

“I’ll miss you so much, Dean. I hate the weekends,” Garth admitted. 

Dean had to disagree with him there. “I’ll see you on Monday, buddy. It won’t be long.” 

Garth’s shoulders slumped. “I know. I just really love camp.”

Garth and his mother got into their minivan and with that, Dean was a free man. He sat with Charlie as she signed out the rest of her girls, totally understanding the exhaustion on her face. She finally signed out the last two of her kids, and then she was free as well. 

“Well Charlie Bradbury, you’ve just won a child-free weekend, what are you gonna do next?” Dean asked, in his best announcer voice. 

“I’m going home!” She declared, pushing herself off the steps. “Hey, come with me to pack.”

Charlie’s bedroom was much more like Gabriel’s bedroom than Dean’s, in that it looked like someone actually lived in it. The only evidence of life in Dean’s room was the Rolling Stones poster on his door, the picture of his mom on his nightstand, and the clothes that were neatly folded in the top drawer of his dresser. To be perfectly honest, Dean didn’t own much, and most of what he had fit in the top drawer, so his room looked a little bare. 

This was not the case in Charlie’s room. The walls were plastered with different posters, everything from The Walking Dead to Star Trek, hastily taped on in every direction. There were several piles of clothes, threatening to eat the carpet. Dean suspected that there was some sort of method to her madness, but he wasn’t really sure what it was. It looked like a typical twenty year old’s room, and it definitely said Charlie. 

Charlie pulled her duffel bag out from underneath her bed, and unzipped it. Dean threw himself onto her bed, and folded his hands behind his head. “Where you off to, anyway?”

“My girlfriend’s.” She said, digging through her drawers. She held up two different flannels, one red and one brown.

“Both,” he told her, and she nodded before tucking them both into the bag. 

“So… when you say ‘girlfriend’ you mean…?”

Charlie rolled her eyes. “I mean ‘girlfriend’ as in we kiss and cuddle and hold hands and wear matching sweaters. That kind of girlfriend.”

Dean wrinkled his nose. “Matching sweaters?”

“It’s an expression, dork.” 

“No, it’s really not.” 

She shrugged. “It should be.” She dug around her drawers some more, before producing a photograph. “Here.”

Dean had to admit, they were a pretty cute couple. The picture featured Charlie with her arms thrown around a woman with brown hair, tightly wrapped in a bun. Charlie was grinning like an idiot, her hair messy and frazzled, but the woman was very neat and put together, smiling only slightly, and glancing at Charlie. They contrasted each other perfectly. 

“She’s cute.”

Charlie beamed. “She’s perfect. Dorothy got me through so much bad shit last year. I’m so lucky to have her.” She took the picture back from Dean and kissed it before tucking it back in the drawer. “Part of why I took this job was because I could get weekends off. I can’t imagine spending the whole summer without her, dude.”

“She’s a lucky lady,” Dean offered. 

Charlie finished packing, and zipped up the bag. “So what about you?” She asked. 

Dean sat up. “What? Am I a lucky lady?”

Charlie shoved at him. “No! Do you have a lucky lady? Or...lucky dude? Person?”

He shrugged. Truth be told, apart from his obnoxious little crush on Cas, he hadn’t really thought about like, an actual relationship with someone in a long time. “Nope. Single and not really looking to mingle.”

She narrowed her eyes in disbelief. “So what about Cas?”

Dean balked. Shit, of course this whole thing was a set up. 

“What about Cas?”

“Dean.” 

He sighed. “We’re not dating, or anything like that.”

She chuckled. “Obviously. I already knew that, I was just being nosy.”

Yeah, her and everyone else at camp, apparently. “Is it that obvious?” He groaned. She nodded. 

“Sorry, dude.”

“It’s cool. It’s just… I dunno. I’ve never even dated guys before,” Dean admitted. 

Her eyebrows shot up. “Seriously? You’re such a pro at hitting on Cas, I just assumed.”

“Well, there was a guy last year… but I wouldn’t really call what were doing _dating_.” 

“Ah.” She said, and Dean figured he didn’t really need to elaborate.

“Anyways, I kinda figured the whole thing was a fluke, or a phase, or a...something, you know. It’s weird that there’s like feelings involved now.” God, Dean was having the biggest chick-flick moment of his life here. Poor Charlie, she just wanted to show off pictures of her cute girlfriend, not listen to his gay panic woes. 

But Charlie nodded sympathetically. “That’s understandable. I mean, I don’t personally understand it, because I’ve liked girls since pre-school, but I get what you mean. That sounds hard.” 

Okay, maybe Charlie did care a little bit. Cool. 

A horn honked distantly outside, and Charlie jumped off the bed. “That’s her!” She scooped up her stuff, and leaned over to kiss Dean on the forehead. “I gotta go, my girl’s here.” She started for the door, but turned around at the last second. “And hey, I know it’s confusing, but you just gotta let yourself feel, okay?”

Dean stared. “You’re pretty wise, you know that?”

Charlie grinned. “I may be aware.”

***

“Jessica’s making me do the talent show,” Sam moaned when Dean slapped down his dinner next to Sam. Technically, staff members were supposed to sit at their own table, but Dean missed his little brother. Also, what were they gonna do about it, fire him?

“Gonna sing a love song?” Dean joked, popping a tater tot in his mouth. 

Sam made a face, and then shook his head. “No, we’re gonna dance.”  
Dean raised his eyebrows? “Dancing? You?”

A light blush touched his cheeks, and he ducked his head. “Shut up.”

But Dean certainly couldn’t let him get away with it that easily. “No, tell me about it,” he said. “What are you guys doing? The tango? Some ballet maybe? Very sexy.”

The boy rolled his eyes. “First of all, we’re just friends, so knock it off. It’s just a funny dance routine she learned last year at school, and it’s not just me and her, Madison and Bela are doing it with us too.”

Dean opened his mouth to interject, but Sam held up a finger. “Second of all, I seem to recall you being very into the Nutcracker when we saw it with Pastor Jim, so you’re not one to talk.”

It was Dean’s turn to blush when Sam brought up his little secret, and he shoved his brother. “Shuddup. I was just into it because the girls were hot.” And the guys. 

“Uh, okay Dean. You were definitely weren’t super invested in the storyline or anything.”

Dean scowled. “It was badass! All those soldiers and crap? It’s awesome.”

Sam rolled his eyes. 

“Hey, where’s your girl at anyway? Lover’s spat?” Dean asked, looking around. 

Sam tilted his head towards the opposite end of the table, where Jess was sitting with a group of girls, all chatting excitedly. “Over with her friends. I told her I wanted to just hang out with you tonight.”

A warm, familial feeling bloomed in Dean’s chest, and he grinned. “Aw, Sammy, did you miss your big brother?”

“Dude, like you didn’t miss me, too.”

Dean threw his arm around his little brother, and gave him a squeeze of a hug. “Please, I was thrilled to be away from you. I had way cooler stuff to do this weekend than hang out with you.”

Sam huffed, and Dean knew that the message was clear: they had barely seen each other all summer. They had been at camp for almost a month already, and apart from a few spare meals, and going canoeing together a few times, they almost never saw each other. When Dean took the job, he knew that he would be busy with his kids, but he didn’t expect it to drain so much out of him. He expected to have a lot of free time when he wasn’t running around with the little rugrats, but most of the time, he slept.

If anyone asked him if it was worth it though, he wouldn’t hesitate to say yes. Cabin Terra had become his life, and it was really important to him. He took the job thinking that it would probably suck most of the time, y’know, wiping noses, slapping bandaids on knees, and singing shitty campfire songs, and yeah, he’s done all of the above since arriving at Camp Kripke, and he’s loved every moment of it, but he’s also done so much more. 

They finished eating, and Dean automatically started stacking everyone’s plates. Meg came out with a pan to collect dishes. 

“Hey Dean,” she winked. 

Dean chuckled, and waved at her. He still didn’t know Meg very well, but he got the impression that she had made it her business to know him. 

She balanced the pan against her hip, and ruffled Sam’s hair. “This must be your little brat,” she guessed. 

Dean laughed. “Yeah, that’s what I keep telling people.”

Sam scowled at her, and Dean wondered if it was because they were calling him a brat, or because he had to fix his hair, now. Probably both. 

“Hey, so someone wants to see you later,” she said suggestively. “Wanna meet them in the kitchen after cleanup?”

Cas wanted to see him? It’s true, they had been hanging out more and more lately: Cas occasionally hanging out with Dean’s cabin during their activities, Dean helping out with dishes while the kid’s swam, Cas joining the staff table for dinner, stuff like that. They hadn’t really hung out on the weekend much, other than dicking around in the kitchen and hanging out with other staff members. 

“I guess I can stick around for someone in the kitchen.” Dean agreed. 

Sam furrowed his eyebrows. “Who are you hanging out with? I thought we were gonna do something.”

“What, I can’t have friends? And anyways, isn’t Gabe taking you guys on a midnight-not-midnight hike?” Dean shot back. 

Meg smirked, and shifted the weight of the plates. “I’ll let him know you’ll be there. Well, see you around Winchesters.” She collected the rest of the dishes, and sauntered back to the kitchen. 

Sam stared at his brother. 

“What?”

“You-you’re lying about something. What are you hiding?”

Dean felt his face go red, and he huffed. “Dude, seriously? I’m just meeting some friends after dinner. Am I allowed to have those?”

“Well, yes.”

“‘Cause you seem to be making lots of friends here. Why can’t I make some? ‘S not like I have a ton anywhere else.” 

Sam looked guilty and mumbled out an apology. 

Dean shrugged it off. “It’s cool, dude.” Well, shit. He hadn’t meant to make Sammy feel bad, he just wanted to get him off his back enough so that he didn’t suspect anything. 

Meeting Cas alone in the kitchen made him nervous, because he knew that he was doing more than just doing the dishes. He waited around until the rest of camp went off to their own activities. He smirked when he saw Jess skip up to Sam excitedly, eagerly chattering about some ideas for their dance she had come up with during dinner. 

Gabriel raised his eyebrows at Dean as he herded the kids out with Jo, and Dean rewarded him with a salut. 

“Casually loitering, are we?” 

“Possibly.”

He waited until the dining hall was void of campers and staff, save for Meg and Anna, who were wiping down tables. “Go get your man,” Meg winked, and Dean chose to ignore her. 

He poked his head into the kitchen, to find Cas standing by the door, trench coat on. Dean had never actually see Cas wearing the coat, but it usually hung on the hooks by the door during the day. He was fiddling with his phone, frowning. 

“Get some bad news?” Dean asked, coming in the room the rest of the day. 

Cas looked up from his phone, confused. “No?”

“You just looked upset, is all,” Dean explained.  
Cas nodded. “There’s no service in here, and I find it very frustrating. I was attempting to text Gabriel.” He held up his phone as evidence. 

“Dude, there isn’t service _anywhere_. ‘cept sometimes at the lake.” Dean thought back to the one time he had tried to call John, and gotten his voicemail. 

Cas stared at him, and Dean felt like he was under a microscope. He fidgeted. He hated when Cas did that, because it was like Cas could just see him. It also made him feel like he was some sort of prize specimen, something to be studied, and that just made him uncomfortable. He wasn’t something special. 

“Did you uh- was there something you wanted?” Dean asked. “Meg sent me in here.”

“Oh, right!” Cas said, as if he had forgotten that he was the one who invited Dean in the first place. “I have a surprise for you.”

Dean perked up. “A surprise? Is it food-related?”

Cas snorted. “Is that all you care about?”

“Why else would I be hanging around your ass all the time? Gotta sweeten up the chef to get extra portions.” Well, and because Castiel was really attractive, but Dean didn’t need to say that part out loud. 

“Dean, all the meals are family style. You can eat as much or as little as you want, whether or not I like you,” Cas reminded him.

Dean pretended to be shocked. “Really? Then why have I been flirting with you all summer?” 

Cas’s face turned red, and he glanced awkwardly at his phone three or four more times before tucking it into his jacket. “Um, so, surprise?”

“Right,” Dean bounced. “Show me!”

He led Dean out the back door, and around the corner to behind the dining hall. Dean hadn’t really been back there before, he’d only ever walked past it. Parked next to two freezers was a golfcart, in all it’s shining glory. 

Dean raised his eyebrows. “We going golfing?”

Cas shook his head and smiled, and held up some keys. “We’re going for a ride.”

It turns out, golf carts are fucking awesome. They don’t drive very fast, but it made a _wrrrring_ sound, and the cool night air felt good on Dean’s ears. Cas had heard Dean talk about the Impala countless times over dishes, and how much he missed the wind in his hair. Dean wondered if that was why Cas decided to treat him to a ride on the golf cart. Also, why the fuck did he have this in the first place?

They glided past Gabe and Jo’s campers, and Dean waved cheekily at Sam. He belatedly heard Sam huff out a “huh?” but they were already past the group before Dean could respond. Gabriel cackled at them as they past, and then they were in the forest. It was then that Dean realized that Cas wasn’t just taking him on a drive around camp, but he was taking him to his cabin. 

“Wow Cas,” Dean said as Castiel neatly parked the golf cart next to the cabin. “Subtle.”

The tilted his head and squinted. “Pardon?”

Dean gestured towards the cabin. “Taking me to your cabin in the woods? You’re either gonna try and kill me or screw me, and I’m not really sure which, right now.”

Cas’s shoulders slumped, and he frowned. He dug around in his messenger bag before handing Dean a DVD. “You said it was good, so I went out and bought it this week. I thought we could watch it together.”

Dean looked down at the DVD and felt like a huge idiot. 

“You bought _Back to the Future Part II._ ” Dean said dumbly. 

Cas nodded. 

“You just wanted to hang out.”

He nodded again. 

Dean winced. “Dude, I’m sorry. You went out of your way to do something cool and I was a dick about it.”

His friend smiled. “It’s okay, Dean. I know that you’re uncomfortable with your sexuality and any feelings that we may have towards each other.” With that, he hopped off the golf cart and headed to the front of the cabin, leaving Dean holding the movie still, his jaw hanging. 

Eventually, Dean got up and followed Cas into the cabin, where he was surprised to see that the cabin was less like how Dean imagined (bear rugs, moose heads, giant fireplaces, etc) and more like a real house (furniture, of the non-dead animal variety).

“Dude, where’s your TV?”  
“Don’t have one,” Cas said, and he disappeared into his kitchen. “Popcorn?” He called. 

“Yeah, dude.”

He heard the familiar sound of microwave buttons being punched and he took the time to look around Cas’s cabin. Aside from a coffee table and couch in the mainroom, there was a couple of easels set up around the room, with half finished paintings. 

Dean stepped up to the closest one, and bent down to examine it. Bright watercolors bounced off the canvas, depicting the lake. It was clearly unfinished, the further down the canvas it went, the less brush strokes there were, and the more pencil lines sketched out the rest of his plan. The sun was setting in the painting, and the lake reflected bits of purple and orange. Dean thought it was kind of pretty, if he was into that kind of thing. 

The microwave beeped, and Cas came back out, holding the bag of popcorn. He scrunched his nose when he saw what Dean was looking at and said, “I hope you’re not admiring that?”

Dean laughed. “Are you crazy? It’s awesome.”

Cas picked up his laptop from the coffee table, and shook his head. “I hate doing landscapes.”

“You’re pretty good at ‘em.”

“I’ve been painting that lake my whole life. Nothing else to look at.”

Dean took one last look at the painting and shrugged. “Well, I like it. When you’re famous, I’ll be able to say that I saw a Castiel Novak original.”

Cas chuckled, and beckoned him to follow. They set up on the wooden swing hanging from the covered porch, and started the movie. The laptop sat comfortably on their laps, half on Dean’s leg, half on Cas’s, and they watched the movie. Because of that, their legs touching, lined together comfortably. 

The thing about Castiel, is that when he is into a movie, nothing else matters. He was very intensely focused on Marty McFly’s adventures, which is irritating for a person who has a) seen the movie so many times he could probably act it out for him and even though he loves it b) really wanted to make some sort of move on Cas, but honestly had no idea how. 

“Hey Cas?” He asked, about halfway through the movie.

“Hmmm?” Eyes glued to the screen. 

“Thanks for inviting me to hang out. I appreciate it, buddy.”

Cas’s eyes finally tore away from the screen, and he smiled at Dean. “Of course, Dean. You know I value our friendship.”

Dean snorted at him. Who says shit like that? “Don’t ever change,” he said. 

Wordlessly, Cas wrapped his arm around Dean’s shoulders, and Dean allowed himself to settle into Cas’s side. It was a little girly, but fuck it, it was slightly chilly, and no one else was around. 

***

He woke up the next morning to the obnoxious sounds of birds chirping. Dean shivered, and burrowed his head further into the pillow. It kinda smelled like Cas, which was nice. The wool blanket was scratchy, but it was trapping a lot of heat in, so it was acceptable. 

Also, why was it so fucking bright in his room? Dean usually kept the curtains on his window shut, because it got so bright in the summer. Eventually, he forced his eyes open, and was surprised to see about a million trees. 

Groaning, he sat up, and popped his back. Oh, he was still on Cas’s swing. Had he fallen asleep there last night? He must have. Dean didn’t remember falling asleep, but he also didn’t remember cuddling up on the swing with a blanket and a pillow. Which means…

Fuck, which means that he fucking fell asleep on Cas again, and this time the guy left him with a pillow and blanket. Well, don’t ever let anyone say that he wasn’t a gentleman. 

Dean laced his tennis shoes back on, folded up the blanket, and made the walk back to camp. He briefly considered stealing the golf cart as revenge for not waking Dean up, but he decided against it, mostly because he had no idea where the keys were. 

He arrived back at his cabin in time to meet Gabriel, who was just exiting the bathrooms. “Hey tiger,” he greeted, sticking his toothbrush in his mouth. “Have a good night?”

Dean rolled his eyes and shook his head. “Hey Gabe.”

“It’s pretty early, huh? About-” he checked his watch. “Wow, it’s only 5:45. What’re you doing up so early? Going on a little walk?”

Dean smiled pleasantly. “Absolutely.”

“Would you call it a... walk of shame, perhaps?” He wiggled his eyebrows, and grinned excitedly. He was a little too invested in his brother’s sex life for his own good. 

“I like 'pride stride,' personally. And I’ll let you know if I have one, okay?”  
Gabriel smirked. “Sure you will.”

***

Monday found Cas sitting on the sidelines while Dean and Gabriel ran a game of soccer between the two cabins. You would think that because Cloud Cabin had all the older kids, that they would consistently kick Cabin Terra’s ass, but Dean was proud to say that his kids held their own, much to Gabe’s dismay. 

“C’mon! They’re a bunch of eight-year-olds! Take ‘em down!” Gabriel shouted desperately. “This is ridiculous, Dean.” 

Dean grinned, and elbowed his friend. “Maybe you shouldn’t feed them so much candy, then maybe they’d all be in a little more shape.”

“Watch it Winchester, it’s your brother who’s getting his ass kicked over there.” Gabriel pouted, folding his arms over. 

The three of them were sitting in the grass together, watching the boys kick the ball back and forth. Technically, the game was at a tie, but that didn’t make Dean any less smug, or Gabriel any less annoyed. 

“Hey, I never claimed that Sammy was any good at sports. He’s probably smarter than all of us put together, but he’s not exactly MVP,” Dean shrugged. He was sitting with his legs sprawled out lazily, and his calf was comfortably resting against Cas’s knee, which was bent underneath him, in a criss-cross position. 

“What do the winners receive? What’s the prize?” Cas asked. It was that pleasant part in between of the day where Cas didn’t have to start up the food for dinner yet, and had already finished cleaning everything up from lunch. Lately he had been spending those few hours with Dean’s cabin. 

Both Gabe and Dean looked at him like he was insane.

“Prize? There’s no prize, my dear brother. Only glory!”

“Then what’s the point?”

Dean pushed at him playfully. “Point? It’s a sport, there is no point. It’s for fun.”

Cas shook his head. “I’ll never understand it.”

Dean chuckled, and started to reply, but stopped when he saw two of his boys standing in the middle of the field, arguing. “Duty calls.” He pushed himself off the grass and jogged over to the boys-Victor and Ben.

“Seriously guys, what’s going on?”  
The pair started speaking at the same time, throwing around blame words like “all his fault” and “he’s a jerk to me!” and Dean attempted to sort through the mess. 

He moved them out from the middle of the game, and sat them down by a tree so they could all sort it out. It was the typical “he’s not letting me play”/”he’s hogging the ball” sort of argument, and Dean patiently talked them through it. He definitely had had the same sort of disagreement with his own brother over the years. 

When he glanced up at Cas, he saw that he was standing by himself, staring down at his hand and frowning. He sent Ben and Victor back to the game, this time as best buddies because that’s how kids work, and jogged back over to Cas. 

“Hey dude, something interesting on your hand?”

Cas didn’t answer for a while, but after a long pause he looked up at Dean, turning his head slowly. “I believe I just got stung by a bee.”

Dean winced. “Ah, that sucks. I hate those.”

“I’ve never been stung before.”

Dean’s eyes widened. “Wait, seriously? Are you okay?” He reached for Cas’s hand, and Cas held it out for him dutifully. The harsh bump on his arm was red and angry, far more dramatic looking than any sting Dean or Sam had ever had. “You’re not allergic or anything, are you?”

Cas shrugged. “Again, I’ve never been stung before.I have no idea if I am allergic or not.”

Panic swelled in Dean’s stomach. He had read horror stories of people being getting stung for the first time and dying because they had no idea that they had any allergies. 

“Hey, Gabe?” Dean called. Gabriel, who currently had his team in a huddle, turned over to look at Dean. “Uh, your brother got stung. I’m gonna uh, I’m gonna go take him to see Missouri, do you mind watching my kids?”

Gabriel looked like he was going to make a lewd joke, but then shut his mouth. He furrowed his eyebrows. “Yeah, Dean. You go do what you need to do.”

Cas didn’t quite agree. “Dean, I’m fine. Honestly.”

Dean shook his head. “Uh-uh. We’re checking this out.” He grabbed Cas’s hand, and dragged him towards Missouri’s office, next to the dining hall. 

Cold air welcomed him as he pulled Cas into her office, looking a little frantic. Missouri was sitting at her desk, nose in a thick novel. She looked up from her book, looking less than impressed. She rolled her eyes. “What did you two get yourselves into?”

“I seem to have been stung by a bee,” Cas said, holding up his hand. It was red and puffy, the skin irritated. “It hurts,” he added lamely. 

“He’s never been stung before, so we’re not sure if he’s allergic. That kinda looks messed up, right? Like he might be allergic?” Dean added, worriedly. He wasn’t sure when he got so protective over Cas, but suddenly he was. 

Missouri sighed, and neatly placed a bookmark in her book before setting on her desk and standing up. “Let me see…” She beckoned Cas closer, and took his arm. 

“Ooh, baby, that looks nasty. C’mere.” She pulled him over to her cabinets, where she started fishing around. “Castiel Jeudi Novak how on Earth can you own a summer camp and have never been stung by a bee before?” She asked, pulling out a pair of tweezers. She gently pulled out the stinger, and started cleaning his arm with a disinfectant wipe. 

Dean stared. “You own Camp Kripke? What the hell?”

Missouri glanced up at Dean. “You didn’t know that? His daddy passed it down to him before he left.”

There it was again. People talking about Cas’s dad leaving. 

“How could you not tell me that, Cas?” 

His friend shrugged, clearly more invested in the pain on his arm. “It didn’t seem relevant.” 

“Relevant? That you’re my boss? Isn’t that neolithic or somthing?” He glanced awkwardly at Missouri, who was conveniently focusing on Cas’s bee sting?

Cas scrunched up his nose. “What? Don’t you mean nepotism?”

“Right, that.” Dean said, sitting in Missouri’s desk chair. 

Castiel tilted his head, like he was thinking. Had it really not occurred to him that he was spending extra time with one of his employees? “I don’t think so,” he said finally. “And anyway, I only own one half of the camp. Gabriel owns the other half.”

“So why do you work in the kitchen? Shouldn’t you be doing like, Bobby stuff?”

Cas frowned. “No, Bobby does Bobby stuff.”  
Dean scowled, frustrated. “You know what I mean. Why don’t you run the camp?”

“I don’t like to. You know I don’t like it here,” he said, unashamed. “I only stay because of my father.”

“What father? Who is this guy?”

Missouri slapped a bandaid on Cas, and pecked his cheek. “You’re not allergic,” she interrupted. “Just a little sensitive. Come back if it bothers you got it?”

He nodded. “Yes Missouri.”

“Now take your drama outta here. Scat!” She patted his backside, swatting them away. 

“I can’t believe you never told me this!” Dean said again, as they walked back to the kids. 

“Does it matter?” Cas asked. “I gave all power to Bobby, and so did my brother. Neither of us want any of the responsibilities. It’s just under our name. I don’t think I even have the power to fire you.”

Dean sighed, and ran his fingers through his hair. “Unbelievable.”

“Dean, I wasn’t keeping this from you intentionally. It just never came up.” Cas said, and Dean could see the honesty in his eyes. 

Dean reached out and grabbed his hand, the same one that had been stung, under the guise of inspecting it. “How’s it feel?” 

“Incredibly painful,” he deadpanned. “This is unpleasant, I can see why people typically avoid it.”

“Hey, Missouri’s right, how did you manage to own a summer camp without ever once getting stung? I get stung by bees all the time.”

“I don’t know. I’ve lived here my whole life, and it had never occurred until today. Maybe they just like me more.” He winked at Dean and it took him a moment to realize that Cas was flirting with him again. 

“I don’t know, maybe they only sting people they like. I’m pretty adorable, I’m sure tons of bugs are willing to die for me.” 

Cas rolled his eyes. “You’re not that adorable.”

Dean laughed. “Right.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello friends! Thank you all for being patient with my updates, I know they aren't coming at any semblance of a regular schedule like I had originally planned, and for that I am sorry. 
> 
> However, I have some news! I have signed up to do the 2014 Spn Femslash Minibang! I am very excited/nervous, but this also means that occasionally Stretch Right Up will have to take a back burner, but I still promise to write a little bit every day, as I have been from the beginning. :)


	5. Summer Lovin' Had Me a Blast

If anyone ever tried to tell Dean that his job was easy, he’d probably kick their ass. Sure, a lot of it was really easy, but do you know what’s fucking difficult? Children crying. 

Sure, he had handled Sammy all throughout their childhood, but Dean usually handled that with a few fart jokes and a grin. Dealing with Bela Talbot crying was a whole other animal. 

He couldn’t even understand what she was saying through her messy tears; every time he tried to ask her what was wrong she would choke on her sobs, and stutter through an explanation that Dean was pretty sure was in Klingon. 

“Bela, what exactly happened?” Dean looked around frantically for her counselor, Jo, but the entire cabin area was empty. Dean had glanced outside during cabin time to see a little Bela standing alone next to the bathrooms, clutching a cell phone and sobbing hysterically.

“My- p-parents h-h-h-hate me!” She cried, clutching to Dean desperately. She pressed her face into his chest, and Dean tried not to grimace when he felt her warm snot all over his t-shirt. He didn’t like that shirt that much anyway. 

“Aw, I’m sure that’s not true,” he said awkwardly patting her back. The only campers he had cry this summer was Garth, when he had gotten teased by Victor and Ben, and Andy, during movie night. Both times required Dean to simply talk them through what was wrong. Dean wasn’t so sure he could do that with Bela. 

“Bela? What makes you say that?” Dean asked, unsure of what else to say to the girl. She only cried harder, burying her sorrows deep into Dean’s neck.

His legs were starting to hurt from the awkward way he was squatting next to the crying girl, so he shifted his body so that he was sitting on his butt, and Bela crawled into his lap with him. Charlie and Jo had insisted before that dealing with girl campers was 100% different than dealing with boy campers, but Dean had called that BS up until now. 

He rocked Bela back and forth, rubbing soothing circles on her back. Her painful sobs slowly calmed down into little hiccups and shudders, until she was almost silent. 

“Do you want to talk about it?” He asked gently. 

She shook her head no, but mumbled out a quiet, “Yeah…”

“Okay, I’m all ears,” he said, and she finally lifted her head up from Dean’s chest, and wiped her face. 

“I have a cellphone,” she confessed, holding up the iPhone as evidence. 

“I can see that.”

“We’re not supposed to have them,” she explained. 

“And so you’re crying because…? You feel guilty about breaking the rules? That doesn’t sound like the Bela I know.”

She giggled, but then her serious face was back on again. “I told Jo I was going to the bathroom, but really I was going to the lake. That’s the only place with service.”

Dean nodded. The few times he had tried to call his father was next to the lake, where somehow his phone had at least one to two bars. 

“I wanted to see if mummy and daddy were coming to the talent show for Fourth of July, and she yelled at me for bothering her.” She said, getting upset again. 

Dean had vaguely forgotten about the talent show/Fourth of July party that all of the parents were invited to next week. The Fourth was on a Friday this year, so instead of going home before dinner, all of the parents were going to show up and enjoy a BBQ with their kids, and watch a fireworks show over the lake. Jo and Gabriel were excited, because it meant that they got to sign their kids out for a little while, but to Dean, it was just another weekend. Sam had mentioned doing a dance with some of the girls from Jo’s cabin, and Dean was pretty sure that Bela was one of them. 

“I’m sure she was just really busy, and you called at the wrong time. It’s okay. She’s definitely coming,” Dean soothed, fixing her messy curls. 

“No she’s not!” Bela shrieked. She sat up straighter, and her accent suddenly became much more posh and sharp. “‘Mummy’s busy darling. We sent you to camp so we wouldn’t have to bother with you, not to make silly old trips out to the middle of nowhere. Now don’t call again!’” It was clearly an imitation of her mother, and even though it was just an eleven year old girl, it was a little terrifying. Dean couldn’t imagine how awful to would be to hear it from an actual parent. Actually, he really couldn’t imagine. John wasn’t even picking up the phone. 

“I just wanted her to see our dance,” she whined, melting back into her real persona. “Daddy didn’t even want to talk to me.” Bela was often known around camp as being one of the more bossy campers. She was also a notorious flirt, and extremely high maintenance. Most days, Dean forgot she was just a kid. Her dark, wet eyelashes blinked up at him, and all he saw was a brokenhearted kid. It was the same defeated look Dean had seen on his brother too many times, and nothing made him more angry. God, why were people so shitty to their kids?

“You know what? Screw ‘em! They’re missing out on a pretty cool dance, from what I’ve heard.” Dean told her confidently, although he had hadn’t actually heard anything about it all, apart from his brother being in it. 

She smiled timidly. “Yeah?”

Dean nodded. “Yeah! You’re folks are lame for being too busy. They’re totally missing out!”

Bela grinned. “They are! We worked really hard on that routine.”

Dean helped her stand up, and dusted off his jeans. “Hey, we should probably head back to our cabins. Don’t want Jo yelling at me for keeping her campers hostage,” he winked. Truthfully, he also didn’t want to leave his own campers alone for too long. They were all sitting around in their beds, playing with legos and chattering, but that could turn into a riot in seconds. 

He walked Bela back to Cabin Camo, where Jo was sitting by the door, peeking through the window. 

The campers all turned to stare at the puffy-faced girl, so Dean offered, “I got a little lost, and Bela helped me find my way back. She’s a saint, that one.”

The cabin burst into giggles, and Jo mouthed a silent _thank you_. He nodded, and headed back to his cabin. 

***

“I’m gonna make my card for Dean!” Kevin declared, scribbling furiously. 

“No, I am!” Ben snapped.

“That’s not fair, why can’t we both make our cards for Dean? I like him too!”

Dean rolled his eyes. “Nobody is making a card for me, they’re for your parents, remember? You guys see me all the time, why would you send me something?”

The kids grumbled in agreement, but neither of the boys crossed out his name on their papers. Craft time was definitely not Dean’s favorite camp activity, because it somehow always led to the dumbest arguments. The project was so simple, they were just making cards for their parents, that they were to give to their parents at the Fourth of July party. So easy. Somehow, the kids managed to make huge messes out of it, and turn it into a big argument. 

“You’re pretty good with them,” Benny noted. Somehow, Bobby had roped him into also being the craft leader, so once a week he unlocked the craft room and handed the kids easy projects. Hell if he knew how to do anything crafty. 

Dean shrugged. “I feel like most of my job is just thinking in kid logic,” he admitted. “Like, Ben wants his card to be special, and he feels like it wouldn't be if Kevin does one too. All I had to do was distract them by reminding them that they shouldn’t be making the cards for me anyway. Suddenly, both their cards are special again because they’re for their parents.” 

Benny grinned. “You got kids down to a science.”

“Yeah well, if only it was. Maybe my grades coulda been better in school.” School had been a struggle for Dean, only because he hadn’t been interested in anything the school had to offer. Why should he care about algebra and history when he was worried about keeping the peace at home? They moved around so much anyway, that it was too hard to catch up with whatever kids had been learning. Whatever, he managed to graduate with a C average this year, and that was that. 

Benny chuckled. “I can relate. I was in this class last quarter that absolutely killed me…” from there Benny launched into a story about the class he had been taking, and Dean listened politely. Most of the other staff members were all either in college, or about to be. Some of them were even in grad school, like Charlie and Balthazar. For them, camp was just a way to spend the summers. After all the kids went home and Camp Kripke closed for the winter, they would all go off to their schools and study for a real job. Dean didn’t know where he was going after the summer was over. 

“Hey, where did you say you went to school?” Benny asked. 

“Didn’t. I’m not in school.”

“Oh.” 

There was a bit of an awkward pause, until Benny continued. “You know, I didn’t go to college right away. I’m twenty-eight years old and a sophomore.”

Dean hadn’t considered that. He had just assumed that Benny was really high up in college. He knew that the man was considerably older than him, but he had no idea that the man was a decade older, and only a sophomore. 

“I’m not really sure what I’m doing,” Dean confessed. “I thought maybe I’d get a job with my dad.”

Benny nodded. “College isn’t for everyone.”

Dean bit his lip. “Yeah.”

***

“Anyways, it’s just kinda weird because everyone else is just here to bide their time for the summer, but I have no clue where I’m going after this.” Dean handed Cas a dish to dry. The new dishwasher had come in last week, yet somehow Dean found himself washing dishes with Cas every Friday afternoon after his kids left camp. 

Cas took the dish, nodding. “That’s understandable. I felt the same way when I was your age, all the other counselors knew exactly what they were doing with their lives; where they were going next.”

God, Cas loved to remind Dean that he was older than him. “Wait, you were a counselor?”

“Yes, before I started working in the kitchen. I was a little younger than you are.” Cas lifted up the current stack of plates he was working on and set them on the shelf. 

A thought occurred to Dean that never had before. “Where did you go to college?”

“I didn’t. I stayed here.”

“What? During the school year?”

Cas turned to Dean, serious as ever. “Dean, I inherited a summer camp at the age of nineteen. What was I supposed to do? Kripke still exists during the rest of the year.”

Dean stared. “So what, you just never leave? Your whole life you’ve lived here and you’ve never been anywhere else?”

Cas rolled his eyes. “Don’t be stupid. I’ve gone on vacations and trips, before. But for the most part, yes, I stay here. All of my older brothers went off to college and got jobs somewhere else, but I stayed behind. Then my father decided to leave as well, and left Gabriel and I to run the camp.”

There was so much regret behind his voice, and Dean couldn’t stand it. No wonder he fucking hated it here, he was practically abandoned by his entire family. “Well? Where the fuck is everybody? They just left you here?”

Cas thought for a moment. “Michael joined the army, and Lucifer works as a CEO of small company out of state. My father… well. I’m not entirely sure where he went. One morning he decided that he needed to see the world, and signed over the camp to Gabriel and I.” Cas leaned against the counter, refusing to look at Dean, now. “Dean, you have to understand: Kripke is my father’s legacy. He has built everything from the ground up. I can’t just leave it. He trusted me with it.”

“No wonder you fucking hate it here, you’re trapped!” Dean exploded. “That’s so unfair.”  
Cas smiled at him sadly, and it only made Dean want to kiss the frown off his face. “Dean,” he said. It really wasn’t fair. Cas should be able to travel the world and paint and… and do whatever else it was he was in to. Not just sit and repaint the same lake over and over again. 

Dean smacked off his rubber gloves, and tossed them on the counter. “You deserve better.”

Cas shrugged. “Don’t we all?”

And that was it, Dean was done. He lurched forward, and clasped Cas by his t-shirt, and pressed his lips against his. Cas grunted in surprise, but then accepted the kiss, opening up his mouth. Dean crowded him up against the counter, and Cas let him. Dean peppered little kisses up and down Cas’s neck, and this is when Cas finally put his hands on his chest and pushed him away. 

Dean looked up, confused at to why his mouth was suddenly not on Cas’s skin. “Cas, what?”

“Why are you doing this?”

Now Dean really didn’t understand. “Because I like you? Don’t you- is that not what you want?” 

He had been pretty sure that Castiel was into him, or at the very least attracted to him, but suddenly a wave of doubt was crashing over him. Cas was probably just lonely, and in need of some friends that weren’t his brother or catty kitchen assistants. Why would he want to kiss a dumb kid who wasn’t even sure what his sexuality was? Hell, Cas was five years old than him, he probably saw Dean’s stupid crush the same way Dean saw Bela’s. 

“Don’t do that,” Cas said. Dean’s neck snapped back up to stare at Cas, who still had both his hands on Dean’s shoulder, holding him at an arm’s length away. 

“Do what?”

“Don’t doubt yourself. I can see you doing it, right now. I didn’t say that I didn’t want this, I only asked you why you’re doing it. I want to know your intentions.” He held Dean’s gaze, unwilling to relent. His eyes flickered across his face, demanding honesty. 

Dean sighed. “I just like you, okay? I think you’re freaking awesome, and I want to kiss you. Is that good enough?”

Castiel smiled, and wrapped his arms around Dean’s waist. “Of course.” 

Dean leaned in to kiss him again, and Cas grinned into the kiss. They were sloppy and aggressive, and all Dean wanted to do was crawl up inside Cas forever. They grabbed at each other wildly. Dean shoved one of his legs in between Cas’s and grinded against him, earning him delicious moans from Cas. 

“Dean-shit!” Cas cried, pushing Dean away. 

Dean scowled. “Dude, what now?”

“I have to cook.”

They stared at each other, and then burst into laughter. 

“That’s such bullshit,” Dean whined. “Can’t you just… not?”

Cas raised an eyebrow. “And let a few dozen people starve? I’m pretty sure that’s not in my job description.”

Dean let his head fall to Cas’s shoulder, and he groaned. “This is the worst. I finally get to kiss you and just as it’s getting good you kill the mood with cheeseburgers.”

“I don’t see how a mood could be killed by cheeseburgers.”

Dean swatted his butt, and chuckled. He lifted his head up from his shoulder.“You’re kicking me out of the kitchen, aren’t you?”

Cas nodded. “I need to cook, regardless of how much I want to remove your clothes, right now.” 

Dean groaned again. “Jesus, Cas. Not helping.”

“I’m sorry.” He pecked Dean on the nose, and pushed him off. “I have to make pasta. Normally I’d invite you to stay and watch, but you’re too distracting.”

Cas turned on the sink and started scrubbing his hands and Dean stared in disbelief. Moments ago they had been near dry-humping, and now Cas was thinking about boiling noodles. This man was crazy. 

He stuck his hands in his pockets. “So, doing anything later?”

Cas laughed. “Are you asking me out, Dean?”

Dean blushed, and ducked his head. “Maybe. Thought we could go do something after dinner. If you want. You know. I’m free.”

Cas started rummaging through cabinets, and pulled out a large pot. He dropped it in the sink and flicked on the water. Turning back to Dean, he smirked. 

“We could probably find something to do. Now leave, I’m cooking.”

“Yeah, yeah, I’m going.” Dean leaned in to kiss him one last time, but Cas evaded him. 

“You’re being distracting again,” he reminded him, and Dean grinned. 

He didn’t stop grinning as he exited the dining hall. He made the mistake of walking through the eating area, instead of just slipping through the back door. The moment he saw Anna and Meg sitting at an empty table, he regretting everything. 

“Well don’t you look like the cat who ate the canary,” Meg grinned. 

“Shut up,” he said, failing to look nonchalant. 

“Hey, good thing Cas stopped you, that kitchen is definitely not soundproof,” Anna teased. 

Meg shrugged. “I don’t know, I’m kind of disappointed, to be honest. I was hoping for a little show, tonight.”

Oh god, they heard of all that? Jesus Christ. “You’re… a good show,” Dean retorted. He blushed harder.

Meg cackled. “Hey, just don’t jizz all over the floor. We have to clean that.”

“Okay, I’m out of here, you’re disgusting,” Dean said, wrinkling his nose. Although, crazy hot kitchen sex didn’t actually sound like a bad idea, provided there weren’t any nosy kitchen assistants hanging around. 

Watching the counselor leave, Meg turned to her friend and grinned. “Okay, who are we telling first?”

Anna laughed, and shook her head. “Meg, we can’t tell people.”

“Please, we’re absolutely telling people. How else are they going to know?” Meg reached over and twirled a strand of her hair. “C’mon… I know you want to…” She stuck out a lip and batted her eyes. 

She pushed Meg’s hand out of her hair, and shook her head again. She tried to force away her smile, but failed miserably, and Meg knew that she had won. “Fine,” she sighed. “Have it your way, like always.”

 

***

Unsure of what to do with himself, Dean wandered back to his cabin, and threw himself onto his bed. He grinned to himself. God, what was he getting himself into? Having a dumb crush on the older man was one thing, but he actually kissed him. He felt a happy, warm feeling gurgle in his stomach, and he bubbled out a laugh. He kissed Cas. 

This was so different from anything Dean had ever done before. With girls, Dean was the stud, all he had to do was crinkle his eyes, smile a little wider, and touch her arm and she’d melt. Castiel was nothing like that. Sure, he flirted with Dean, but he also did it from a safe distance, and never let Dean actually get away with any of his usual shit. 

The only other guy Dean had done anything with was Aaron, and that had been a total disaster. Dean had seen the guy around school before, and had never really paid attention to him before. Then suddenly one day Dean could _feel him_ looking at him. Over his shoulder and out of the corner of his eye, Aaron was there, with an easy smile and a slight nod. 

Finally one day Dean approached him in the lunch room. 

“Dude, what gives?” Dean had barked.

Aaron had sat up in mock-surprise. “What? Me?”

“Buddy, I don’t know what you’re playing at, but it’s getting on my fuckin’ nerves. Stop staring, okay?”

The other boy had shrugged easily. “Okay, but it’ll be hard. You’re pretty cute.”

Dean balked. Out of all the things Aaron could have said, that was definitely not what Dean had expected. He had been pretty sure that Aaron was just making fun of him, or knew some sort of secret about him. Not that Dean had any, of course.

His first instinct was to laugh it off, and his second instinct was to punch him in the face. Dean didn’t do any of those things, however. Instead, he froze. 

“I-sorry. I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable.” Aaron had said, his nonchalant facade melting away. “I’ll back off.”

But Dean was blushing, completely off guard. “No! No, it’s uh, it’s cool. I was just uh, confused, is all. I didn’t know that you were um. Yeah. So… right. Have a good day,” he stepped backwards, tripping over a trash can. 

He landed flat on his ass, and Aaron chuckled. “Real smooth, Winchester.”

“You-! Shut up, dude.” He was really making a fool of himself now. He stood back up, and awkwardly brushed himself off. 

“Sorry, I just didn’t expect you to be so…?” Aaron trailed off.

“Lame?” 

Aaron snorted. “Sure, let’s go with that. Wanna go make out under the bleachers?”

So completely against every instinct, Dean went with him. As it turns out, kissing dudes was just as fun as chicks. It was fun, and so Dean didn’t really feel like examining what that made him.

Pretty soon, they were hanging out at each other’s houses every day after school, doing stuff besides making out and the occasional hand job. Aaron was really into these cool old movies, so he started bringing them over to the crappy apartment John had dumped them at, and they had marathons every weekend. 

It all came to a crashing halt the week before graduation. They weren’t even really doing anything that major, it mostly some lazy kissing and groping on Dean’s bed, when John slammed open the door. Dean had gotten into the habit of cranking up music whenever Aaron was over, so he didn’t have to worry about Sam hearing any suspicious noises. 

“Dean, why the hell is that music so l-” John stopped in the doorway, just in time to see Dean’s spring away from Aaron. 

“Uh, sir! I didn’t realize you were going to be home so early.” He stood in front of Aaron, as if that would somehow protect him from John. 

“Who’s this?” John asked, nodding to Aaron. 

“Uh, hi! I’m Aaron,” Aaron said, waving awkwardly. He pushed himself off the bed to stand next to Dean. Sticking his hand out, he smiled. “I’m a buddy of Dean’s.”

The look that John gave Aaron was the same look he had on his face when he found a dead cat in their yard last spring. He turned back to Dean and said, “Your friend should probably go home.”

After Aaron awkwardly scampered home (“I’ll call you later, I guess?”) Dean approached his father, who was sitting on the couch with a beer. 

“Dad, I-”

“I don’t want to talk about it, Dean. What you do is your own business, but I don’t want to have to hear about it.” John’s heavy stare never let the television. 

“Dad I’m not-”

“Is that clear, son?”

Dean nodded. “Crystal.”

He never called Aaron back. 

***

Dinner was no easier. Apparently in the three hours that Dean spent in his cabin the entire staff had discovered what Dean and Cas did in the kitchen, because when he arrived at the dining hall everyone was beaming at him. 

“Jesus, you guys,” he muttered. “Hey everyone!” He sang, sliding in next to Charlie. Everyone stared at him like they were proud parents. Choosing to politely ignore their looks, he flipped his cup right side up, and poured himself a glass of juice. 

Everyone was still grinning at him, and the ignoring aspect clearly wasn’t working. He sighed, and looked up. “Okay, what?”

Gabriel finally broke the silence. “You sly dog! I knew you had it in you!”

Oh shit. Dean groaned, and wiped his hand across his face. “You guys…”

“Seriously? In the kitchen? Isn’t that kinda unsanitary?” Charlie asked

“Unsanitary?! We didn’t-ugh! What all did you hear?” He looked around wildly at his friends. 

Gabriel snorted. “Please, what _didn’t_ we hear? From what Meg said, you guys-”

“Enough!” Missouri interrupted. “I did not come to dinner tonight to listen to you all talk about Dean’s personal life. If I wanted to hear about the nasty details of two young men I would watch my soaps. _Please_.” She stabbed at her food, and turned to Dean. “Dean baby, don’t be breaking his heart.”

Dean opened his mouth to defend himself, but Charlie cut in. “Missouri, I’m sure Dean will take care of our chef, won’t you?”

Excuse me?

“I don’t know, Dean’s always seemed like the Danny Zuko heartbreaker type to me, you know?” Jo argued, leaning in. 

“Uh, I think you’re forgetting that Danny and Sandy end up together,” Gabriel added. “This is nothing like last time.”

“It better not be,” said Balthazar, who had remained silent up until that point

“ _It won’t be_. Dean’s not like him.” Gabriel assured. 

What? What last time? Did someone break Cas’s heart before? If they had, Dean’s sure all of camp knew about it, because apparently everyone knows everything about everyone, around here. God, how was it even possible that the rumor mill moved that fast? If everyone knew, did that mean that oh shit, did that mean that Sammy knew? Had Sam heard rumors about his brother fucking the camp chef in the freezer? That was the last thing he wanted. He had tried to hard to keep Aaron a secret from Sam, and now it was probably all ruined. 

Right on cue, Cas shyly peeked out of the kitchen, and made eye contact with Dean. He quirked his eyebrows and glanced at the rest of their friends, and Dean figured it was Castiel for _they all know, don’t they?_

Dean jerked his head in the table’s direction in invitation. Charlie made room for Cas and he plopped down next to Dean. 

“So, BJs in the kitchen? Pretty kin-OW! _Missouri!_ ”

“Gabriel Filou Novak there are children sitting two tables away. My god.” Missouri admonished, shaking her head. “Now I understand why Bobby refuses to sit here.” Dean glanced over at Bobby, who was currently sitting in between two little girls, listening intently to whatever they were saying. 

Gabe reached down to rub his leg, and Dean snickered. That’s what you get, asshole. 

Cas covered his face, embarrassed. “Is that what people are saying?” he groaned. “I’m going to kill Meg.”

Balthazar reached over and patted his hand sympathetically. Cas looked up at him gratefully. Dean felt a twinge of jealousy, despite the fact that Cas had assured him that he and Balthazar were just friends. 

“I’ll kill her for you,” Dean offered. “Apparently all of Kripke knows about how we banged senselessly.” 

Missouri offered him a warning glare, but no kick was sent his way. He gave her his very best Dean Winchester grin, and she rolled her eyes. 

Gabriel squawked indignantly, clearly annoyed that Dean didn’t get kicked as he did. “Dean Winchester, there are children around!” He mimicked, earning him another kick. “What the hell, Missouri!”

“One more peep out of you and I will give you a reason to see the nurse, you got it?” She threatened, and he slumped in his seat, grumbling. 

Dean was amazed, he had yet to see anyone who could get Gabe to shut up like Missouri could. 

Thankfully, the topic changed from there. Missouri launched into a story about a time when Gabriel was a camper, and got gum stuck in not only his hair, but three other campers hair as well. Apparently he couldn’t resist trying to beat the world record for biggest bubble blown despite being told not to by Missouri, Cas, and his counselor. 

“You ever wonder why he grows his hair out so damn long? It’s because of how foolish he looked after I had to shave him near bald that summer! Ooh, he was angry!” Missouri finished, leaving the table in fits of laughter. 

Dean realized that Missouri was probably trying to deflect the attention away from him and Cas, and he appreciated that. Everyone finished up their meals, and started stacking their plates. 

“So, got any plans for tonight, boys?” Balthazar asked. 

The pair exchanged looks, and Cas shrugged. Dean grinned. “I might have some,” he said, throwing an arm over Cas’s shoulder. He glanced behind himself to see Sam standing and chattering with Jess eagerly. Good, he wasn’t paying attention. 

“I’m sure you do,” Balthazar laughed, before bending down to pick up his backpack. “If you’ll excuse me, I have a rock wall session to attend.”

The rest of the staff and campers filed out, until it was just Dean, Cas, and the two kitchen assistants. 

“Just go, already,” Anna laughed. “We can clean up from here.”

“We’re not done discussing how you violated my privacy,” Cas said, pointing to the two girls, who looked away innocently. “I am your superior, you know.”

“Dean, take your man and go,” Meg said, and Dean didn’t need to be told twice. 

As soon as they left the dining hall, Dean grabbed his hand and started running.  
“Dean, where are we going?”

An bubble of excitement burst in his stomach, and he felt like he was going to explode. Cas dutifully ran after him, holding on to his hand, despite being confused. His eyes were comically wide, and Dean had to laugh. 

In all honesty, Dean wasn’t really sure where they were going, he just felt like running away with him. Eventually, they hit the lakeside, and had to stop. 

Dean leaned over and huffed, trying to catch his breath. Cas stood and waited.

“What? You’re not tired?”

“Dean, we ran about a hundred yards, why would I be tired?” Cas asked. “I run every morning.”

Dean laughed. Of course he fucking does. 

He pulled Cas in by the waist, and pressed his lips against his. Kissing Cas, as it turns out, is one of the better things Dean has ever done. His lips were dry and chapped, but they were warm, and damn he knew how to use them. Just as Dean started to edge his tongue on the seam of his lips, Cas pulled away. 

“Do you like to canoe, Dean?” He asked. 

He blinked. “What?” 

“Do you like to canoe?” He repeated. “We could go canoeing, if you’d like.” 

“What, right now?”

They stood on the lake side, and Dean kicked around the sand a little. It was just now starting to get dark, even though it was well past seven. That was one of the things Dean loved about the summertime. 

Cas shrugged, and grinned. “Why not? There’s a little dock out there I like to sit on.”

Dean dropped his hands from Cas’s waist. “Oh no, no way. Sammy and I fell off of that!” 

But Cas wasn’t listening, he was already walking to the canoe rack, and dragging one down. “Go get us some life jackets.”

Dean snorted. “I’m not wearing a life jacket.” 

Cas turned around to give him one of the nastiest death glares he’d ever seen. “Put on a life jacket.”

“Wow Cas, not for nothing, but the last person who looked at me like that… I got laid,” he winked. 

Cas rolled his eyes. “Put on the life jacket or you won’t be getting laid,” he threatened. 

Dean doesn’t think he’s ever moved so fast. He strapped on the dorky life jacket, and by the time he came out of the life jacket shack with one for Cas, he already had the canoe in the water. “Hurry up, Dean.”

They rowed in silence, and it was peaceful. By now Dean was practically a pro at canoeing, and they pushed the oars through the water with practiced ease. They circled around the lake once, and then Cas directed them towards the floating dock in the middle of the lake. 

They tied the canoe to the dock, and plopped down onto the wobbly dock. “Look, Dean,” Cas said, pointing.

Dean turned around and he realized why Cas had brought him here. 

Through the thick, darkening evergreens, a pink and purple sun was setting. The clouds mixed together in pretty pinks and oranges, contrasting against the dark trees. 

“You brought me here to watch the sun go down with you?” Dean asked, amazed. 

“Is it too cheesy?” Dean glanced at his friend, and realized that for once, he was one blushing, not Dean. 

Well, maybe it was a little bit. Actually, it was a lot cheesy. Somehow, Dean didn’t really find himself caring. 

“So are we uh-?” Dean wasn’t really sure how to ask. 

“Do you want to be?” Cas’s face was at an absolute neutral, completely void of emotion-but Dean knew better than that. 

“I don’t know, Cas. Why not? I’m into you, you’re into me…” Dean trailed off. Damn, he really was way better at this with girls. 

“You’re an idiot,” Cas told him, and leaned into his space. Dean stretched his arm out behind Cas, and let him scoot in further. 

He slapped the bottoms of his sandals on the water.

“Yeah, we both kinda are.”


	6. It Took One Guitar

The thing about summers, is that no matter how great they are, they never last forever. It was the sixth week of the summer, and things were suddenly moving fast. Cas started hanging around Dean’s group every moment that he wasn’t cooking or cleaning, and although they both tried hard to stay appropriate around the kids, most of his campers had caught on.

Not that Dean minded. All of the kids were decidedly cool with it, and some of the girls even thought they were cute. He was pretty sure most of camp had figured it out at this point, due to the insatiable rumor mill that had somehow become prominent at Kripke. The only thing that had Dean worried, was how Sam was reacting to it.

Sam had yet to actually approach the topic, but he had to know, right? It felt like every time he walked into a room, they were all discussing his romantic life and wild sexcapades with Cas (which, weren’t even true; apart from a few heavy make-out sessions they hadn’t really done much). 

He brought it up to Cas one day, while they were sitting on a bench at archery, watching Balthazar instruct the kids. 

“What do you mean?” Cas asked. 

“I just… he doesn’t officially know anything, you know? I’m sure he’s heard rumors left and right, but he hasn’t said anything to me about it.” 

Cas shrugged. “Maybe he’s waiting for you to talk to him about it.” 

Dean hadn’t really considered that. Sam was never a patient person. He was confrontational, especially when it came to Dean hiding things from him. Not that Dean was hiding Cas from him. He was pretty sure.

“So what, should I just sit him down and say ‘hey, you know all those rumors floating around? All true.’” 

Cas wrinkled his nose. “They can’t all be true. Gabriel said he heard that we were getting eloped after the summer ended. Personally, I wasn’t aware of this.” 

Dean threw his head back and laughed. Truth be told, he didn’t want to think about what happened after the summer ended. Obviously he and Sam would go back to travelling around with their dad, but where would Dean fit in? Would he just pick up odd jobs while John worked his cases? Become a detective himself? Or would he be expected to settle down somewhere with a job at Walmart or a gas station? What about him and Cas? Would they stay friends, or pen pals or whatever? Maybe they could add each other on Facebook or something. Dean would have to get one first, but yeah. They could do that. Dean wasn’t trying to pretend that their relationship was something that could possibly last after August, but maybe he could hope they’d stay in contact. 

Cas put his hand on Dean’s. “Anyway, he probably just doesn’t know how to approach the subject. What would you do if you heard rumors about him hooking up with some girl?” 

“Cas, he’s thirteen, he’s not hooking up with _anybody_.” Dean said, horrified. He turned his hand over in Cas’s, and let him lace their fingers together. Cas liked to do this thing where he slowly stroked his thumb up and down the side of Dean’s hand, and it made him want to melt.

Cas looked like he wanted to say more, but was stopped when Ben turned around, spotted the pair and screamed, “Dean and Cas are holding hands!” 

The rest of the cabin turned around, scandalized. Balthazar turned up his nose. “Ew!” 

Cas squeezed his hand, but didn’t let go. “Yeah, Dean is pretty gross, isn’t he?” He asked the campers. 

“He’s so smelly!” Kevin agreed. 

Dean snorted. “Excuse me?” 

A few of the other kids chimed in their agreements. “You always leave your clothes all over your room!” Andy added. “My mom would kill me if I did that.” 

“Yeah, all those stinky socks, dude!” Ben added. 

Cas, who had never stepped foot in Dean’s cabin, grinned at him. “Your room is messy?” Cas’s entire cabin had been impeccably spotless, every time Dean had visited it. 

“No! _You’re_ messy…” he finished lamely. Cas squinted at him, confused. 

“You’re terrible at comebacks.”

Dean shrugged. “Yeah,” he admitted. 

Cas glanced over at the kids, who had already lost interest in them. Their counselor’s relationship was interesting but not _that_ interesting. Not when they could be shooting stuff. Once he knew the coast was clear, he leaned over and smacked a sloppy kiss on Dean’s cheek. 

“Dude,” Dean moaned, blushing. Oh god, they were being ridiculously cute, weren’t they?

Apparently not everyone has focused on archery, because Balthazar had caught the little peck. He winked at them, causing them both to be embarrassed. They scooted apart so that they weren’t attached at the hip, but their hands stayed firmly clasped together. 

They weren’t exactly being secretive about their relationship, although no one had up front asked about it, either. They all just assumed things, and at this point, Dean didn’t really care. They also weren’t really into PDA, for that same reason. Holding hands at dinner and the occasional make-out session in the kitchen was as far as they had gone, in public or otherwise, in the week that they had been...whatever they were now. 

Cas had to get back to the kitchen to start on lunch, so he split a few minutes early. He paused for a moment, after he had stood up, looking around. 

“Cas?”

With one more glance to the kids, who were currently concentrating on finding all of their arrows, he swooped down and pressed a light kiss to Dean’s lips. 

“Bye,” he said, quickly making his exit. Balthazar raised his eyebrows at Dean, and Dean’s ears burned. He definitely hadn’t been expecting that. In fact, that was the first time Cas had ever kissed him in front of anybody. 

He let Kevin be the line leader on the trip back to the cabin (“no fair, he was the line leader yesterday!”) and hung in the back with Balthazar. Not that he particularly wanted to walk with the guy, who already acted as if he didn’t trust Dean, but he had asked Dean if he could walk with their group, and gave him this look that told him he didn’t really have a choice. 

“So, you and my Cassie, huh?” Balthazar asked. 

Dean glanced down nervously at Garth, who was dutifully holding his hand. The camper didn’t seem to be paying attention, he was too busy arguing with Ash about something. 

“Yep.” 

“Oh good, I was worried you were going to try and hide it. Cassie’s basically told me everything, so I wasn’t about to ask about any of the nasty rumors flying around.” 

Dean nodded. “Yeah, he told me you guys were pretty close, so I figured.”

“I’m sure you know why I wanted to talk to you.”

Garth gasped, and tugged at Dean’s hand, so Dean let go so he could run up to the front of the group. He probably had something to tell Kevin. Good, Dean liked that Garth was making friends. 

“Let me guess, hurt him and I’m dead, right?”  
Balthazar shrugged. “More or less. I’m concerned that Cas is a little more serious about this than you are.”

Dean stopped walking. “I’m-this isn’t some sort of joke to me. I really care about Cas.” What the fuck? When had he give the impression that he hadn’t?

“That may be true, but I just want to make sure that you guys are both on the same page. I’m sure you _care_ about Cas, but he’s been hurt before.”

They had arrived back at the Cabin Terra already, and the campers had all scurried into the cabin. “What the fuck does that mean?” 

“Language, Dean,” Balthazar admonished, and Dean had had enough. 

“No, you need to fucking clarify.” Dean said, crossing his arms. 

Balthazar sighed. “You’re not the first summer romance he’s had with a straight boy. I just want to make sure you’re not just using him as a summer experiment before you go off with your frat boys in August. Cas is more than that.”

There were so many things wrong about what Balthazar said, that Dean kind of stopped for a minute. 

“I’m not straight,” he said dumbly. 

Balthazar then did something that surprised Dean: he chuckled. 

“Obviously. Just… don’t break his heart when you leave at the end of the summer, okay?” He patted Dean on the shoulder, and turned to leave. 

“Balthazar.” Dean said. 

The rec leader turned back around, cocking an eyebrow. God, Dean was starting to really dislike this douche, but he couldn’t be all bad, if he was Cas’s best friend. 

“I’m not gonna hurt him. That’s not what I want.”

Balthazar nodded curtly. “Outstanding.”

***

Dean was pissed off after his little conversation with Balthazar, but he couldn’t really do anything about it, because he had the kids to take care of. That was the thing about Kripke, whatever problems you had, they went away when you were with the kids. Period. 

About half of the kids were all crowded around Andy’s bed. Dean peeked over them, and saw that they were chattering excitedly about a Batman comic. Looking around, he saw Kevin curled up in his bunk, reading a note, and Garth was sitting with his feet dangling off the edge, munching on some cookies. 

Oh right, the mail must have come in. 

Even though the kids of Cabin Terra went home during the weekends, their parents still had the option of writing them letters and sending them packages, so on Wednesdays, Bobby stuck all of their mail in a little mail cubby in the window. It was cute, and it made the kids feel important. 

The older kids got their mail on Wednesday, and Gabe said they loved it. Dean asked once, and unsurprisingly, John had yet to send anything to Sam. He did get a care package from Pastor Jim, a friend John had made years ago who occasionally watched the boys when John had long cases. Dean was glad to hear that, he was worried that Sam would feel left or something if all the other kids were getting stuff in the mail and he wasn’t. Hell, before Gabriel had told him that, he had been thinking of writing Sam a dorky letter and putting it in their cubby to make him laugh. 

They just had cabin time until lunch, which wasn’t for another forty-five minutes, so he decided that the kids were all entertaining themselves well enough, and decided to go visit Sammy. 

“Dean-o!” Gabriel greeted him, from where he was sitting in the floor, and Dean rolled his eyes. 

“Dude, that’s like the worst nickname ever.” Dean groaned. 

Gabriel shrugged. “Whatevs, bro.” He went back to flicking through his magazine, which Dean suspected was a skin mag with a fake cover, because he had been reading the same magazine since the beginning of June. 

“Hey, can I borrow Sam for a while?”

Gabe nodded. “Sure. Little brotherly bonding?”

“Something like that. C’mon, Sam.” Dean jerked his head to the door, and Sammy pushed himself off his bunk and followed Dean. 

They walked around aimlessly in silence. They mostly stayed in the cabin area, because Dean didn’t want to be too far from his kids. They were fine by themselves, but he didn’t want them to worry. 

Dean kicked at the dirt, and realized that this was probably an opportune time to you know, tell Sam about his relationship with Cas. He dug around in his pockets, but he knew that the only thing in either pocket was his phone, which he couldn’t use anyway. Maybe he could call 911, he thought wildly. Say _hello, 911? I’m about to tell my kid brother that I’m not straight and in a relationship with a man. Send help, please._

“Hey, wanna go swing on those?” Sam asked, breaking Dean’s thoughts. He was pointing over at the crickety swing set a few yards away from the cabin area, resting snugly under some shady trees. 

Dean didn't see why not, so they headed over to the rusted swings, and plopped themselves down. 

He sighed. “Sammy…”

“Dean, I already know.” 

A spike of adrenaline flushed through him, and jerked his head up? “W-what?” He hadn’t expected himself to get so nervous, suddenly, but his heart started hammering and his mind started racing. How the fuck could Sam know? 

Sam shrugged, and shuffled his feet in the dirt. “Dean, I know he’s not coming, it’s cool.”

Dean blinked. “Who?”

Sam wrinkled his eyebrows. “Uh, Dad? That’s why you pulled me out, right? Did he call you just now to tell you he wasn’t coming to the talent show?”

Oh, that’s what Sam meant. Dean hadn’t really even thought of that. He had tried calling John a few times over the last few weeks, but never got a response. He hadn’t ever brought up the topic with Sam, who hadn’t even mentioned John all summer. 

Dean nodded, and let his eyes trail back down to the ground. It was stupid, but he lost the nerve to tell Sam. His insides were a mess. His stomach had dropped, his heart was leaping up into his throat, and butterflies flapped around wildly in between. He swallowed. 

“Yeah, sorry kid. Look’s like Dad’s pretty wrapped up in his case,” he lied.

Sam rolled his eyes. “He’s always wrapped up in a case. I bet he wasn’t even planning to come at all.”

Dean felt like shit. Truth be told, he hadn’t even thought about John coming to visit for the family barbeque. He had left a couple messages while trying to call his father, but they had been short, quick message, just letting him know that Dean was only calling to check in. John hated when people called him without leaving a message, because then he didn’t know if there was an emergency or not, and had instilled into Dean the importance of leaving a message. However, not once had Dean actually mentioned the Fourth of July barbeque. At least John had an actual excuse for when he didn’t show up: Dean’s fucking forgetfulness. 

“Sam…” Dean reached out to touch his shoulder, but he brushed him off. 

“Whatever. I don’t know why I’m surprised. He’d probably hate my dance, anyway.” He tried to look defiant and annoyed, but Dean knew Sam well enough to know better. 

And well, shit. In the midst of everything else, Dean had forgotten that Sam was doing a dance in the talent show. It hadn’t even occurred to him that the dance was important to Sam. He kinda just assumed that it was something he was doing for Jess. 

“I bet it’s gonna be awesome, though.”

Sam puffed up his chest. “It will be! We’re working really hard to make it look professional. Madison’s mom is a dance instructor, so she’s really good about the technical stuff. I’m probably not very good, but I really like it.”

Dean smacked Sam of the back. “Hey, I’m sure you’re great. I can’t wait to see it.” 

“You’re gonna watch it?” 

Dean snorted. “What else am I gonna do? What, you think I’m just gonna let everyone at camp but me see your dance? How else am I gonna brag about it to people? Jesus, Sammy.” The teasing was back, and Dean could see Sam visibly relieved. 

“Oh good.”

Dean frowned. “You thought I was gonna skip out?”

The younger Winchester shrugged, refusing to make eye contact. He was suddenly very interested in the dirt beneath his feet. 

Dean bent over, trying to make eye contact again. “Dude, seriously. You really thought I was gonna skip the talent show? Miss your show?”

Sam shrugged again, noncommittally. “I guess.”

“What the fuck, why?”

He mumbled something Dean could hear.  
“What?”

“I said, because you’d be with Cas.”

Dean paled, and he felt his nerves spike up again. “Uh-”

“I’m not mad about it, I just wish that we could hang out more, you know?” He turned to Dean, his face open and honest. 

Did he know then? About him and Cas? 

“Sammy,” Dean said carefully, “when you say ‘it’, you mean…?”

Sam made a face. “What do you think I mean? I’m not dumb.”

Oh. 

“So, you’ve heard.”

“Yep.” Sam wobbled his legs in the air, moving his swing back and forth. “Kinda hard not to hear about it. S’all the other counselor’s talk about.”

Dean cringed. It wasn’t news, but it still made him uncomfortable that the whole world felt the need to discuss his brand fucking new relationship. 

“Cool,” Dean said awkwardly. God, he literally had no way to deal with this. Talking about their dad for about five seconds had calmed him down some, but suddenly he was all twisted up with anxiety, despite Sam’s flippant response. 

“Wait, is _that_ why you pulled me out of my cabin? To talk to me about you and Mr. Cas?” Sam asked incredulously. “Are you trying to come out to me, right now?” He cackled. 

Dean’s face flushed, and he punched his brother’s arm. “Shut up, dude.”

But Sam saw his brother’s red face, and his eyes widened. “Oh my god, you really thought I didn’t know!” He exclaimed. “How could I not?”

“I don’t know, shut up.”

“Dean, I know you’re bisexual. I’ve known that for forever.”

“What?” Dean sputtered. “How? You’re thirteen. When I was thirteen, I didn’t even know what bisexual meant!”

Sam kind of half shrugged, indifferently. “I dunno. I knew you liked guys and girls, and then one day I heard the word at school, and then I was like, ‘oh so that’s what that is’. Then you started dating Aaron, and that was kinda it. I didn’t know it was a secret.”

“Okay seriously, what the fuck? You’re way too smart for your own age.” Dean didn’t bother correcting his brother and telling him that he and Aaron were less about dating and more about grinding their dicks on each other. There were some things that he didn’t need to explain to his kid brother. 

The kid smiled softly, and Dean knocked their shoulders together. He mentally blew a deep sigh of relief. As far as telling your brother that you’re with a dude, that was probably the best case scenario. 

“Wanna race back to the cabins?” Sam asked, hopefully. 

Dean didn’t reply, and instead jumped off the swings and took off running. Sam moaned, and followed, hollering about how unfair Dean was at the top of his lungs. 

They got back to the cabins, and Sam finally caught up to Dean, grinning wildly, and out of breath. “You’re a douche, Dean.”

Dean threw his arm around Sam’s neck, holding him in a half-nelson. Jesus, he loved his brother. 

***

“What do you mean you’re not participating?” 

Dean popped a tater tot in his mouth. “It means I’m not participating. I didn’t know I had to.”

Gabriel sighed exasperated. He slurped at his cherry Coke obnoxiously, and pointed at Cas. “Castiel, tell your lover that he has to enter the talent show. It’s _required_.”

Dean turned slightly pink at the word ‘lover’, and averted his eyes away from him, but Cas dutifully ignored it.

“Gabriel, it’s not required.”

"Well, shit, which is it?” Dean exploded, earning a glare from Missouri. “Sorry.”

The Fourth of July was tomorrow, and apparently it was a travesty that Dean wasn’t entering. He didn’t even realize that staff _could_ enter, but Gabriel insisted that almost everyone who worked at Kripke did something during the show. Suddenly, the entire staff table at lunch was insisting that Dean enter. 

“Well, what are you guys all doing? Can’t I just jump in on your act?” Dean asked.

Cas shook his head sympathetically. “I’m doing the banana/bandana skit with Balthazar, and it’s only a two-person skit. Otherwise I’d invite you to join us…”

Dean waved the suggestion away. “No, it’s alright.”

“I’m telling jokes!” Gabriel announced. 

“It better not be like last year,” Benny warned. “Do you know how many pissed off parents were complaining after that?” 

The counselor shrugged. “The kids didn’t understand the joke, so why did it matter? It was funny!” 

“Gabriel Filou Novak, I know you’re not trying to tell that joke again. My ears were bleeding for a week! I will wash your mouth out with soap,” Missouri threatened, and Gabriel slumped in his seat, defeated. He may be the trickster at Kripke, but Missouri was the camp mother hen, and even Gabriel seemed to obey her. 

“You can’t do that,” he muttered. 

The look of fury in Missouri’s eyes said otherwise, and Gabriel let it drop. 

His pouting didn’t last for long, however, because moments later, he was back on Dean’s case again. “Hey, didn’t you say you play guitar?”

Dean blinked. “I never said that.”

Gabriel smirked. “Someone mentioned it, I’m sure of it. Why don’t you play a song for everyone?” 

Charlie’s eyes lit up. “Ooh yeah! Dean, do it!”

He hadn’t played guitar in hell, years. He didn’t even own one anymore, he had to sell it. John had been gone for two weeks longer than he had promised, leaving them behind in an old motel. It was the middle of the summer, and they ran out of food money, so Dean did what he had to do. 

He had convinced Sam that he only did it because he was tired of the old thing, but truth be told, he loved that shitty old guitar. It had been his mom’s and John always told him how much she used to play it. 

Sometimes when he was laying in bed at night, in that half-awake, half-asleep state, his fingers would twitch like they were playing the guitar, and it made Dean miss his old thing like hell. Other than that, he tried to not think about it. 

“I don’t even have a guitar, dude.”

“Cas has one,” Balthazar pitched in. 

Dean turned to look at Cas curiously, and he smiled at Dean apologetically, as if it was his fault that Gabe was forcing Dean to enter. “It’s my dad’s, technically. He didn’t take it with him when he...left. So it’s just sitting at my cabin, collecting dust.”

Gabriel clapped his hands together. “Perfect, you can go practice after lunch.”

“Okay, even if I did agree to play, I can’t just leave my kids for a few hours to practice, dude.” Dean crossed his arms. There, he had won. 

“Yeah you can,” Jo said suddenly. “We have rehearsal for the show after this, remember? Bobby’s taking all the campers out to the projector field, and running through all of the talents. He said he didn’t have to be there, if we didn’t want to.”

“What? When did he say that?” Dean started digging around in his backpack for his weekly schedule. 

“This morning? At the staff meeting?” 

“Oh, yeah. I slept through that.”

Balthazar snorted. “We know. It’ll snow in August before you wake up early enough to make it to a staff meeting. How many have you been to this year? One? Two?”

“Shut up.”

***

Cas led Dean to his golf cart, which was parked out back of the dining hall per usual. They wrrrred past all the campers hiking up to the projector field with Bobby, and waved at the kids. 

He left Dean in the main room of the cabin, and disappeared into his bedroom. Dean had never been into Cas’s room, he realized. Whenever he visited the cabin during his breaks or on the weekends, they always stayed out in the open. 

Cas came back with the guitar, and presented to Dean. It was a dusty old Gibson, decorated in markers. A large orange and yellow sun circled the sound hole, it’s tendons flickering out around the body of the instrument, swirling. Intricate black designs covered the rest of the guitar, filling the entire space. It was beautiful. 

“Cas,” Dean breathed, taking the guitar from him. “Are you sure I can use this?”

“Of course.”

It was clearly an important guitar, regardless of the fact that Cas was letting Dean use it. He settled into the couch with the guitar, and strummed his fingers over the old strings. He cringed at the sour notes the untuned guitar made, but grinned wildly

“Can you tune it?” Cas asked, sitting next to him. 

Dean nodded. “Oh yeah, piece of cake. I used to spend hours lounging around the hotel room, trying to teach myself how to tune by ear. It probably annoyed the fuck out of Sammy, but it’s how I learned how to tune.”

Cas squinted, puzzled. “Hotel room?”

“S’where we lived my whole life. I mean, not the same hotel, but yeah.” He fiddled with one of the tuning pegs, lightly fingering the string.

Castiel stared at him. “You lived in hotels your whole life?”

Dean shrugged, not really wanting to get into it. His life on the road was his life on the road, and his life at Kripke was his life at Kripke. He didn’t want to mingle them into the other, that felt wrong. 

“You lived at a summer camp your whole life.” 

“Dean.”

He said it so gently, that Dean’s head jerked up, surprised. 

“Tell me,” Cas urged. 

Dean closed his eyes and let his head fall back against the couch. “I’ve lived in every state at least twice.”

He felt Cas’s hand rest on his knee, and he moved his hand away from the strings to squeeze it. “I wasn’t aware you moved quite so often. I guess I had assumed that when you said you moved a lot, you meant every few years.”  
“More like every few weeks. Months, if we were lucky.”

“I wish I could say I understand,” Cas said. “But perhaps it’s a blessing that I’ve lived here my whole life. At least it was stable.”

Dean snorted. “Yeah, stability was definitely not something I had growing up. That’s kinda why I like it here.”

“That’s kind of why I hate it here,” Cas admitted. 

Dean opened an eye to peak at Cas, and they both burst into giggles.

“We’re quite the pair,” Cas laughed. 

“Yes, we are.”

They were quiet after that; Dean softly tuning the Gibson, and Cas sitting at his side, leaning into him. After a while, he shifted so that he was leaning against Dean’s shoulder. It was a comfortable silence, and it was good. Cas sighed contentedly.

Once he finished tuning the guitar, he strummed it absently, his fingers moving seamlessly into the chord positions. It was like no time had passed at all. Just like riding a bike. 

He was going to miss this, he realized suddenly. He mentally counted the weeks left of summer. Only four. Unless he got a job here again next year, he’d probably never see Cas again. Even if he got a job at Kripke every summer for the rest of his life, he’d still only ever see Cas three months out of the year. It was a shitty situation. 

“I’m going to miss this,” he said.

Cas glanced up at Dean, and he knew that he didn’t have to clarify anything to Cas. He understood. “Me too,” he said. 

There was so much Dean wanted to say, just then. He wanted to tell Cas that this had been the best summer of his life, period. He wanted to tell him that he deserved to see the world, instead of living his life at Kripke. He wanted to ask Cas to show him his sketchbooks, and all of his paintings that weren’t of the lake. 

Instead, he gave Cas a wink and said, “We should make the most of it, then.”

Dean twisted around so he could lean the Gibson against the couch, and before he could turn back to him, Cas was already crawling into his lap. He pressed his lips against Dean’s, and Dean grinned into the kiss.  
Straddling Dean, he pressed his lips against Dean’s neck. A thick heat bloomed in his stomach, as he felt the first tinges of arousal. “Fuck, Cas.”

“Mmm…” he mumbled, clearly too invested in the curve of Dean’s neck. He nibbled at the chord, and Dean’s head fell back against the couch. 

“Dude… don’t leave a hickey. My kids would never let it go.”

Cas moved away from Dean’s neck, and pulled him by the collar of his shirt, forcing Dean to look at him. “Stop talking about your campers,” he ordered, and Dean clamped his mouth shut. Apparently Cas wasn’t okay with that either, because he surged forward to claim Dean’s lips. 

So far, their make-out sessions had been much more...relaxed. They would lazily exchange kisses in the kitchen or behind the dining hall. It had been much more about showing affection than trying to get off. 

Today, this was not the case. They hungrily tasted each other’s mouth, pushing their bodies as close together as possible. Cas pulled away from Dean to suck on his neck again, (and fuck, how did he know that was the one place that made Dean’s toes curl the most?), and Dean couldn’t help it. He moaned, and jerked his hips upward. 

Cas looked at him in surprise, but then grinned wildly. He shifted so his ass was directly over Dean’s crotch, and started pushing down in rapid circular movements. 

“Jesus-! Cas!” Dean moaned. 

Cas leaned down and nuzzled the side of Dean’s face, which seemed like a weird thing to do to someone you were grinding on, but his breath was warm, and Dean loved it. 

“Your dick feels good against my ass, Dean.” Cas whispered. 

Dean’s eyes flew open. Fuck, if he was going to dirty talk during this, Dean wasn’t going to make it to the whole clothes removal part. 

“Y-yeah?” Dean managed to say back, panting heavily. 

“Mhm. You’re so hard for me Dean. It’s beautiful.”

Cas humped him without abandon, and every few movements, he could feel Cas’s erection tap his stomach. There wasn’t nearly enough touching. Dean wanted more. 

“Are you going to come, Dean?”

“Ah-!” Dean managed. He tried to form a coherent thought, but not much was really happening in his upstairs head at the moment. 

“Dean.” 

“What?”

Cas slowed his pace, enough for Dean to look up at Cas, confused. 

“Dean, do you want to come?”

All Dean cared about is that the glorious ass was no longer jerking his dick around in his jeans. “Yeah. Go.”

Cas smiled, and leaned back into Dean, pressing his dick up against Dean’s stomach. He started jerking back and forth, moving Dean with him. The two pushed off each other, grunting and moaning. 

Cas pushed against him one last time, slow as possible, and Dean came with a fucking shudder. Dean managed to lift up his hand and press it against Cas’s cock, straining against his jeans, and squeeze. 

“ _Dean_.” And Cas was coming too. 

He collapsed in Dean’s arms, and rested his head on Dean’s shoulder. Dean tipped his head back, trying to catch his breath. 

Cas’s hand reached out and grazed Dean’s forearm, touching it lightly. He stroked his pointer finger softly against his skin. 

When Dean could finally formulate a coherent thought, he said, “I can’t believe we just dry humped on your couch like a couple of teenagers.”

Warm breath blew against his neck as Cas chuckled. “You are a teenager.” 

“Barely,” Dean moaned. He didn’t need a reminder that Cas was five years older than him. He shifted. He was starting to come down from the orgasm high, and Cas was getting heavy. He patted Cas’s thigh. “Get off my lap.”

Cas grumbled, and nuzzled in deeper. So Dean allowed him to stay. He wrapped his arms around him, and did what he would only ever admit to in court as snuggling. 

After a while, Dean’s leg was starting to fall asleep. “Babe.”

Cas sat up, and grinned at Dean crookedly. 

Dean blinked. “What?”

“You’re adorable,” he shrugged. He pushed himself off of Dean, and brushed himself off. “Well, I need a shower.”

The come was starting to cool in his jeans, and Dean agreed. He knew that Cas had a shower in his cabin, so he offered up the first shower to him. Cas bent down to exchange a few slow, warm, kisses, before Dean patted his butt and told him to go shower. 

He settled back into the couch, his feet up on the table. He closed his eyes and listened to the comforting sounds of the water running in the back of the cabin.

He shifted again. God, sticky come was so not comfortable. Next time Cas decided to crawl into his lap, he was going to make sure they actually got to the taking off of the clothes part. He could hear some extra water hit the floor in the shower, and he assumed that it was because Cas was moving around some. 

Hm. Cas was in the shower. Cas in the shower naked. Cas in the shower naked, washing off his own come. That was a nice image.

Faintly, he could hear Cas singing. 

He hoisted himself off the couch, grimacing at the wetness in his jeans. He wasn’t walking towards the bathroom...per se. It was more like he was wandering. Near the bathroom. Possibly. 

Dean found himself knocking on the door. The hoarse singing stopped. “Yes?” He called out. 

Dean opened the door just a tad. “Uh, hey. Just curious when you’re going to be done.”

Cas peeked out from the ugly brown and orange patterned shower curtain. His mouth twisted into a crooked smirk, and he eyed him knowingly. “Oh… I don’t know,” he rumbled. “Maybe not for a while. You could probably walk back to the community showers at the cabins if I’m taking too long.” 

His teasing was always so awkward, but it was so endearing it made Dean’s stomach flip. How was it possible that this dude could grind on Dean’s dick and make him come in his jeans one minute, and then make him feel like he was going to melt into a puddle, the next. 

“Oh yeah? You’re gonna make me walk back to the campgrounds with my jeans full of jizz? That’s not very nice.”

Cas shrugged. “Do something about it.” 

That was it. Dean shucked off his sticky jeans and boxers, and threw his shirt somewhere along with it. He ripped back the curtain and inserted himself in the shower with Cas, who was already cackling. 

When Dean’s feet hit the water, he groaned. 

“What?”

He closed his eyes. “I was so excited to be naked with you, that I forgot to take off my socks.” They both looked down at his disgusting socks, soaked now. 

Cas lost it. He laughed at Dean, while Dean attempted to peel off the sopping socks, and toss them over the shower curtain. It took a couple of tries before Dean could maintain enough balance to take them off, but he finally got it. 

“What? Don’t judge me!” Dean protested, and Cas shook his head at him. 

He crowded Dean against the wall of the shower (which wasn’t that hard to do, considering how tiny the thing was), and kissed him. 

This time wasn’t rushed, like it was before. They took things slow. Cas washed Dean’s body with a washcloth, coating his skin with soapy bubbles. They shoved each other around jokingly, stealing kisses. 

When Dean finally took the next step and reached for Cas’s cock, Cas sighed in his ear. “You’re everything,” he mumbled as Dean slowly worked his hand over the head. He wrapped his arms around Dean’s neck, and Dean jacked him languidly. 

The only other time he had done this was with Aaron, and it hadn’t been like this. With Aaron, it was quick and dirty, behind the bleachers or in Dean’s room before John got home. He never took the time to press kisses all over Aaron’s body, worshiping him like he did for Cas. This was different. 

“Dean,” Cas moaned. “Dean.”

Dean couldn’t have been happier.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello friends! I apologize that I have not been posting updates as regularly as I have been. Things have slowed down a lot, and I should be able to post more. More to come soon!


	7. No Taxation Without Representation

Although Cas insisted that his cooking skills were limited by frozen corn dogs and french fries, Dean learned otherwise. In fact, Dean learned that Cas was a dirty, rotten liar, and was actually amazing at cooking.

“Seriously, why doesn’t he ever cook this on regular days?” Dean moaned around his burger. “This is so good.”

Gabriel smirked. “Maybe because it costs more to make it this way, and we couldn’t afford it otherwise. We just like to dish out the good stuff during 4th of July to impress the parents.”

Dean looked around, and saw that most of the parents were definitely impressed. Kids and parents alike munched happily on Cas’s burgers, chatting away. It was clear that many of the parents knew each other, as they sat together and caught up, while their kids sat together. All of his kids were signed out, and sitting with their parents in the dining hall.

Dean shrugged. “Whatever it takes to eat these glorious burgers. They’re delicious.”

The only kids who weren’t signed out with their parents were Sam and Bela, who were sitting at the staff table. At first Dean was worried that they would feel bad about being the only kids who didn’t have parents come for the BBQ, but they didn’t seem to care or notice. Jo said she had caught Bela bragging to the other campers in Camo Cabin that she was going to spend her evening with Dean, instead “silly old parents”.

She was a brat, Dean’ll give her that, but she definitely knew how to make the best of a shitty situation.

Dean turned back into the conversation, just in time to hear Charlie complain about her cabin. “God Jo, they’re so awful. I think the entirety of my cabin hates me.”

Jo patted her shoulder sympathetically. “I’m sorry. Not gonna lie, that’s why I volunteered to have the older girls, this year. I had Abbie and Lilith last year, and I thought I was going to die.”

Gabriel snorted. “Please, how bad can two little girls be? Try living with a bunch of boys on the brink of puberty, 24/7.”

Sam made a face. “We’re not that bad!” He turned to Charlie. “Imagine living with Gabe 24/7!”

They all laughed.

“I don’t envy you, Charlie,” Bela said. Dean could see her sit up a little straighter, attempting to be on the same level as the counselors. “The girls in Smoke Cabin are absolutely terrible.”

“Hey now,” Charlie chided. “A lot of them are really good girls.”

“Yeah, when Ruby’s not hitting on me!” Sam complained, accidentally flinging some food.

Gabriel chortled. “Goddamn, is _everyone_ at Kripke in love with a Winchester?”

“Not me!” Charlie chimed in. “I’ve got a girl back home.”

“Me too,” Jo said.

Everyone turned to stare at Jo, who shrugged. “What?”

“Is _anyone_ at Kripke straight?” Gabriel asked, prompting more laughter.

Somehow, the focus shifted to Benny, who had remained silent up until that point.

“What?”

Gabriel coughed, and looked at him pointedly. “ _Anyone?_ ”

Benny grinned crookedly, held up his hands, and shrugged. “I dunno.”

Gabriel’s eyes widened, and he howled with laughter. Camp Kripke’s apparent lack of straight staff members seemed to amuse him to no end. He tried to count on his fingers all of the other non-straight staffers, but he could never get past one or two before bursting into another fit of laughter. He pounded his fists against the table, and wiped his eyes. It was a good thing Missouri was sitting with Bobby and some parents, otherwise she would have kicked his ass.

Dean beamed at his friends at the table, and he realized that he had managed to scrape up his own little family at camp. Sam grinned up at Gabriel as his counselor continued to make several more inappropriate jokes.

He excused himself from the table, and wandered out back, where he found Balthazar hovering over Cas, who was barbecuing.

“Ah, look who it is- my favorite person,” Balthazar snarked.

Cas rolled his eyes, and flipped a few burgers. “Down, boy.”

Dean smirked at Balthazar. Yeah, take that, Doctor Who.

“Well, I’ll leave you two lovebirds alone,” Balthazar said, with a pat on Cas’s butt. “Toodles.”

With that, he swung open the backdoor of the kitchen, and strolled inside, whistling.

“I don’t think he likes me very much,” Dean observed.

Cas shrugged. “He just worried a lot. He seems to be under the impression that you’re just using me to experiment with your bisexuality.”

“Oh,” Dean said. He already knew that that was how a lot of people felt, but it somehow stung more to hear it from Cas himself.

Dean watched as Cas slid the last of the burgers onto a large tray, and flicked off the barbeque. “I don’t think we’ll need more than this, do you?”

“Uh, yeah. That’s probably enough.”

Cas his spatula down with a sense of finality. “Good.”

His hand slipped into Dean’s, and tugged him towards the beach. Dean followed obediently.

“So, do you have anywhere you have to be?” Cas asked him, almost conversationally. Dean shrugged. Not really. He guided Dean to the shack next to the canoes, where they kept the oars and life jackets.

The kids were supposed to take their parents on a scavenger hunt throughout camp, after dinner, which wouldn’t be over for another half an hour. Other than the talent show at seven, and the firework show at nine, Dean really didn’t have anywhere to be.

“I’m all yours.”

Cas grinned, and pulled Dean inside the shack.

All of the life jackets, which were usually thrown half-hazardly on the shelves, had been tossed on the floor of the shack, creating a makeshift bed.

Dean raised an eyebrow. “Now Castiel, I would almost say you planned this.”

“Shut up, Dean.” And with that, he slammed the door of the shack shut, and clicked the lock into place. The outside lights vanished without a trace, leaving Dean completely blind. Heavy arms were on him, and suddenly he was crashing against the lifejackets. Cas was crawling over him. Lips covered his neck, and he moaned.

He could feel Cas pull away for a moment. “Is this okay?” he asked, sounding self-conscious.

“Cas,” Dean managed. “Just fuckin’ kiss me.”

Cas obeyed, and pressed his lips against Dean’s.

Jesus, there was something about kissing Cas… it was different from anyone else. Making out with Aaron had always been sloppy and quick-trying to sneak a handjob before they got caught. Even the dozens of girls he had messed around with before Aaron- being with them was nice, and certainly hot, but it was nothing compared to Cas.

Oh shit, he was hard now. Like, really hard. Cas was too, by the feel of the hardness against Dean’s leg. Cas was all over him, kissing up and down his neck.

“Cas… there are parents in the dining hall. I’m so fired, dude.”

Dean couldn’t see Cas, but he imagined that he was glaring at Dean. “You can’t get fired. I have final decision on that.”

“Okay, that’s definitely necrophilia.”

Cas stopped. “Dean. You mean _nepotism_ , right?”

Oh right, nepotism. That’s what he meant. They had had that conversation before. “Yeah, that.” It wasn’t his fault that the two words sounded alike. Dean meant to say more about it, but then Castiel pushed up Dean’s t-shirt, and drew an agonizingly slow lick across his nipple. Shit, he didn’t even realize that that was something that could feel good.

Yeah, his upstairs brain pretty much didn’t do anything for a while after that.

His shirt was being tugged off over his head, and he let his body go fluid, moving wherever Cas put him. The shirt went somewhere, although Dean had no idea where, and Cas continued to suck on his nipple, paying extra special attention to it. He licked all around it, pressing warm kisses to the center before nibbling it. Spikes of pleasure shot through Dean. Cas reached down and palmed Dean’s dick through his jeans, and Dean bit back a moan.

“Jesus Cas,” Dean cried, as Cas pressed into his jeans. “Jesus.”

“Mmm… Dean.” Cas murmured.

“Argh- don’t make me shoot my load in my- _ahhh_ …. don’t make me come in my pants dude.”

Dean blindly felt around for Cas, and finally grabbed a tuft of his hair, just as he was making his way to the button on Dean’s jeans. He pulled at Cas’s hair gently.

“Hmm?” Cas asked, innocently.

“Don’t. Make me. Come. In my pants.” Dean gritted out. Castiel didn’t seem to hear him, though, because he still massaged Dean’s dick.

“Cas!”

“Right, sorry,” Castiel chuckled. Then, the pressure of his jeans was alleviated as he heard the slow _zzzzzwoop_ of his jean’s zipper.

“Fucking finally,” Dean gasped.

Cas pulled down his jeans enough that he could peel back Dean’s boxers. Dean’s cock sprung out of his boxers, and Cas gripped it at the base. “Fuck…” Dean moaned, screwing his eyes shut.

For a moment, Cas just held Dean, feeling the weight of it in his hand. Dean wondered what Cas was going to do with him, but he didn’t have to think about it for long, because suddenly Cas was swallowing him whole.

The wet heat of Cas’s mouth engulfed Dean’s dick, and Dean shoved his fist in his mouth to stop himself from crying out too loud. The shack was a piece of shit, and anyone could hear them.

Cas seemed pretty okay with Dean’s fist curled into his hair, so he let it stay there. “Shit, Cas. You’re so awesome. Shit, you’re awesome. Fuck.”

He pretty much rambled like this for the duration of what was possibly in the runnings of the best blowjob ever, until his balls tightened and-

“Cas I’m gonna come now.” He ignored him, and bobbed up and down. “Cas I’m not kidding I-” He went to push Cas off of his dick but he only sucked him down harder, swallowing everything when Dean released his load.

Everything was warm and perfect. Dean barely registered Cas tucking him back into his pants, and removing Dean’s hand from his hair. He crawled back up the length of Dean’s body to nuzzle into his neck.

“Holy shit, dude.”

Cas chuckled. “I haven’t done that in a really long time.” His voice was more hoarse than usual, and it made Dean grin when he realized it was because he just had Dean’s dick down his throat.

He could feel the hard press of Cas’s erection against the side of his thigh. He still felt woozy from the orgasm Cas had punched out of him, but he managed to twirl their bodies around so that he was on top of Cas.

“Your turn, buddy,” Dean said, reaching down to unbutton Cas’s cargo shorts. He wasn’t stupid; he knew that Castiel wasn’t going to last long enough for all the teasing that Dean could replicate, so he just went straight to work.

The thing is, Dean was perfectly comfortable with the fact that he liked dudes, now. Most people knew about it, and were pretty cool with it. That didn’t mean that Dean was ready to start putting a dick in his mouth. Not yet.

So he leaned down and pressed his chest up against Cas’s. Gripping his cock, he stroked up and down, twisting his wrist. He pressed his lips against Cas’s ear, and whispered hot, dirty words as Cas came quickly.

When Cas came down from his high, he snorted.

“What?”

“ _Necrophilia._ What’s wrong with you?”

Dean blushed. “Shut up. Where’s my shirt?”

Cas sat up and felt around. “I kind of just threw it somewhere,” he admitted.

“Yeah, I got that. But I gotta go schmooze with the parents some, and I can’t do that if I don’t have a shirt.”

There was some more shuffling, and feeling around in the squishy life jackets, before Cas finally produced a t-shirt, which he shoved at Dean. Dean could hear the sound of fabric being wiped at, and he realized that it was Cas wiping come off some of the life jackets with a towel. Where he produced the towel from, Dean wasn’t sure.

“Thanks, man.” He stood up, and threw the shirt on.

They brushed themselves off, and attempted to casually leave the life jacket shack without looking suspicious. It was darker out than it was when they snuck into the shack, the sky tinted with pinks and purples. Parents and kids were just starting to leave the dining hall for the scavenger hunt, and Dean could see some walking down towards the lakeside, in the distance.

“Well, this looks like my cue,” Dean said, jerking his head towards the parents. The counselors were supposed to do the scavenger hunt with the kids that didn’t have any parents show up, and he should probably go find Sam anyway.

“I have to go clean the kitchen and the grill, anyway,” Cas agreed.

Dean nodded. It sucked, because all he wanted to do was be with Cas, but this was his job. He couldn’t exactly ignore all of his duties just because the owner and Jesus, his boss technically, was with him.

They started up the hill to the dining hall, when they ran into Gabe, who was dragging along a bored Sam and Bela. Both campers brightened when they saw Dean and Cas.

“Dean, you have to help us with this scavenger hunt! We can’t let anyone from Smoke Cabin win!” Bela cried dramatically, grabbing at his arm.

“Yeah, I bet we could find all this stuff before anyone else. Especially since we have three counselors with us!” Sam added. He glanced at Cas, who was watching the whole affair amusedly. “You’re gonna join us, right?”

Dean clapped Castiel on the back. “Sorry kiddos, Cas has to go take care of some kitchen duties.” Cas nodded in affirmation, and the pair chorused their “awww’s!”

“I’ll see you at the talent show?” Cas asked Dean.

“You bet. I’m excited to see your little skit with Balthazar.”

Gabriel rolled his eyes. “You guys do that stupid skit every year. It’s always really messy, and no one thinks it’s funny. I’m more interested in what Dean’s gonna play on that old guitar Dad left behind.”

Sam raised his eyebrows. “You’re gonna play something on the guitar?”

Dean shrugged. “I guess so. They’re all kinda making me. I wrangled Benny into singing with me so I’m not awkward as hell.”

The camper grinned. “Dean that’s so cool! I was just telling Gabriel last week how much I used to love it when you played.” So that’s how Gabriel found out, the little shit. Sam frowned. “Why’d you ever get rid of it?”

Dean’s stomach sank. Out of all of the things he never wanted Sam to know about, him selling the guitar was right at the top of the list.

Gabriel beat him to it. “He was probably sick and tired of girls throwing themselves at him, left and right, right Dean-o?”

Dean exhaled. “Right.” He glanced at Cas. “‘Course, no one’ll be throwing themselves at me tonight.”

“Yeah, I’m sure they won’t.” Gabriel winked. “They probably already have.”

He blanched. “What is that supposed to me?”

Gabriel raised an eyebrow and looked pointedly at Dean’s torso. “Nice shirt. Didn’t know that wearing our clothes backwards was the style these days.”

Oh, shit. He didn’t want to look. He had rushed to toss on his shirt, in the dark no less, and had ended up with his shirt backwards. Fuck.

His cheeks were burning, and Gabriel cackled at him. He didn’t dare look at anyone as he stuck his hands inside the torso of his shirt and twist around so it faced the front.

Bela and Sam stared at Dean in confusion. “What happened to your shirt, dude?” Sam asked.

Dean shook his head. “Shut up.”

He peaked a glance at Cas, who was stifling a laugh behind his hand. He shook his head at Dean, as if to say _you’re completely embarrassing yourself and I’m not going to help you._

“I’ve got to go,” Cas said, reaching down to grasp Dean’s hand.

Dean squeezed back. “See you.” He turned back to everyone else. “Alright, who's got the scavenger hunt list?”

Sam produced a list from his pocket, and they all gathered around to look at what they needed. The goal was to bring back as many items on the list as possible, in time for the talent show. From there, Bobby would declare a winner.

Some of the items on the list were pretty easy to find. Without even moving from where they were standing, they were able to cross off a pen, a candy wrapper (thank you Gabriel), something with the Camp Kripke logo on it, and a driver’s licence (“don’t friggin’ lose it, I kinda need that later.”)

After that, they found some of the other easier items, such as a pinecone, and a rock smooth enough to skip across the lake.

Bela and Gabriel went to their cabins to collect a hairbrush, a pillowcase, something with an animal on it, and a straw, while the Winchesters went to go look for a four-leafed clover.

They found a small patch of grass with clovers next to the dining hall, and set to work. Apparently some of the other campers had the same idea, because soon Kevin and his mother, and Abbie and her parents showed up, as well.

Abbie crushed her boots through the grass, in attempt to foil Kevin from finding a clover, but Kevin found one anyway. “Look mom!” He squealed, holding it up proudly. “Dean look!” Abbie stuck her tongue out at him. Dean felt awkward because usually he would have pulled the little redhead aside to talk to her about her behavior, but her parents were standing right there, as were Kevin’s, so he just let them work it out.

Eventually the little demon grew bored and left, dragging her parents behind her. Sam sat in the grass, defeated. “I think it’s impossible to find one,” he sighed.

“That’s not true dude, Kevin just found one.”

“Kevin’s a freakin’ genius,” Sam huffed.

Dean snorted. “Kevin is also nine. I think you can probably manage to find one, too.”

Sam rolled his eyes, but continued to scan the grass.

“This is hopeless,” Sam moaned.

Dean shrugged, and leaned back in the grass. “Okay then, I guess we’re just gonna lose to a bunch of little girls.”

“Dean, that’s sexist,” Sam remarked.

He opened his mouth to defend himself when Sam shouted, “I found one!”

Truth be told, Dean hadn’t really be expecting that. Kevin had already found one, and what was the likelihood of that? Gabriel had been the one to put the list together, and he had told Dean that the four-leaf clover was just thrown in to make the scavenger hunt stretch out long enough so that Bobby had time to set up the stage for the talent show.

“Are you serious?”

Sam held it up proudly and yep-that was a four-leaf clover alright. Shit, Dean was already shocked when Kevin found one, what was the likelihood that there were two four-leaf clovers in one little patch of grass. Dean held out his hand and Sam deposited the little plant in his hand for him to inspect. Just like the pictures he’d always seen on St. Patrick’s Day.

The little Winchester was standing up now, bent over and squinting at the grass. “This is so awesome, Dean. I love this.”

“Thought you couldn’t stand camp?”

“Huh?” Sam stood up straight, furrowing his eyebrows. “Dean, that was forever ago. I didn’t know how awesome it was going to be. I love camp. You know, I’m kinda glad Dad forced us to go, this has been the best summer ever. For both of us.”

Dean felt his throat go dry. “Yeah?”

Sam nodded, open and honest. “I think Kripke was really good for us, you know? Like, I’ve never had so many friends in my life. I’ve got Madison, and Krissy, and Samandriel. And... Jess. And you got Cas.” He surveyed the grass some more, and his face brightened. “I found another one!” His arm snaked into the grass and plucked out another plant.

“Okay, this is bullshit-how is that even possible?”

Sam shrugged. “I guess I’m just lucky.”

***

They ended up giving their extra four-leaf clover to Garth, who couldn’t find one (much to Gabriel’s dismay), but only ended up in third place. Lilith and Ruby, who were cousins apparently, teamed up with their parents and ended up finding everything on the list within the first half-hour. Ash came in second place with his parents.

Bela was beyond pissed, and insisted that Lilith and Ruby be disqualified for teaming up, but Sam pointed out that they had teamed up too, so she just grumbled to herself, annoyed.

After Bobby announced the winners, he said, “Folks, did y’all like the burgers you ate tonight?” The crowd cheered in agreement, and Bobby nodded. “Good, then I’d like to introduce you to the man who made them, and the owner of Camp Kripke, Castiel Novak.” He gestured towards Cas, who was sitting next to Dean, as the parents politely clapped, while the campers hooted and hollered for Mr. Cas.

Cheeks burning, Cas donned the stage. “Hello ladies and gentleman. As Bobby said, my name is Castiel Novak. I’m glad you enjoyed the burgers. We ran out of hamburger meat and so I had to start cooking moose, but none of you noticed, right?”

The kids all squealed in horror, while the parents chuckled. Beside him, Gabriel groaned. “He tells that joke every freakin’ year, and every year, I tell him not to. No one thinks it’s funny.”

“No, no one thinks _you’re_ funny,” Dean retorted.

“Tonight I will be hosting a talent show that the staff and campers of Kripke worked very hard to put together. I can assure you, you’re in for a real treat. Who knows, maybe the next pop sensation is in our midst!”

Okay, Dean had to agree: Cas was pretty fucking awkward. In a totally endearing way. Even if Gabriel hadn’t mentioned that he did this year, it would have been obvious that Cas was usually stuck with the job of playing host, because of how rehearsed he sounded. But he wasn’t going to admit that to Gabriel.

“To start of the show, I’d like to invite our recreational leader Balthazar on stage with me, for our skit.”

The crowd clapped and cheered, and Balthazar bounced onto the stage, holding a banana. What the hell? He handed the banana to Cas, and they stood on separate sides of the stage, setting up the scene.

Cas pulled out his iPhone, pretended to dial it, and held it up to his face. From the other side of the stage, Balthazar took out his phone. “Hello?”

“Hey Balthazar, it’s Castiel,”

“Oh, Cassie! How are you? How’s Kripke?” Balthazar played along.

“Camp is doing well. Now that the summer’s over, things are pretty quiet though. I would even say it’s sort of...boring. How is England?”

“England is fabulous!” Balthazar said. “I’m having so much fun at university. In fact, I just took a class on bandanas.”

“Bananas?” Cas asked incredulously. It was pretty clear they had done this skit a million times, and were switching up the details. The campers were captivated.

“Certainly! There’s so many tricks you can do with them. Care to hear some?”

“I don’t see why not,” Cas said. “I happen to have a banana right here.” He held up the banana Balthazar had given him before the skit as evidence.

“Excellent. I happen to have my bandana in my pocket.” Balthazar announced, whipping out a blue bandana from his back pocket. It was then that Dean realized where the skit was going.

“Who keeps their bananas in their pockets?” Castiel asked, wrinkling his nose.

“Lots of people.” Balthazar looked straight at Dean, and winked. Christ.

The campers howled with laughter as Balthazar went through and all the different things you can do with a bandana, while Cas attempted to the the same with a banana.

“You can even fold it in half and tie it around your hair!” Balthazar finished, tying a bandana around his head, flawlessly.

Cas frowned, and attempted to squash the already destroyed banana onto his head. “Balthazar… why would anyone want to put a banana in their hair? This is so messy?”

The campers were screaming with laughter, and some of the parents were even getting really into it. Dean could barely see from how much his eyes were watering, that’s how hard he was laughing. There was something that was just so hilarious about Cas, a grown-ass man, being completely confused about why he should be folding a banana in half and tying it around his neck, but following the instructions anyway.

“ _Banana?_ Cassie, darling, I said _bandana._ Are you telling me that you’ve been attempting to do all of these tricks with a banana?” Balthazar asked.

Cas’s eyes grew comically large. “Well, it was good talking to you Balthazar. See you next summer!” He picked his phone back up and pretended to hang up.

The crowd cheered, and the pair held hands and bowed. Dean had to admit, it was pretty good. He had expected something kind of dumb, but it was actually really hilarious.  
Cas called up the next talent on stage, Madison and Carmen, who sang some Taylor Swift song together. He found Dean in the crowd, sitting with Sam, and sat down next to him.

Dean wanted to throw his arms around Cas and smack a big kiss on his lips for doing such a great job, but they were surrounded by parents, who probably wouldn’t appreciate that.

“Dude, that was hilarious,” he told him, squeezing his hand.

Cas grinned. “Balthazar and I have been doing that skit since we were kids. Half of these campers have seen it since they were seven.”

“Hey, I wouldn’t complain if I had to watch it again.” He reached up and pulled some squashed banana out of his hair. “You might wanna wash this out, though.”

“Oh yeah, I had a towel but…” he cut himself off, and turned pink. Dean frowned. But what?

Then he remembered that Cas had seemingly made a towel appear out of thin air when it came time to wipe jizz off the life jackets. Remembering this, he turned red himself, thinking back to the Best Blowjob Ever.

“Did you leave it in the canoe shack?” Dean murmured.

“Why were you guys in the canoe shack?” Sam asked, and Dean gave him a light shove.

“Don’t ask, bitch.”

Sam scrunched his nose. “Dude, gross! The lifejackets are in there!”

“They’re being cleaned next week,” Cas replied easily, standing up. “I’m going to go wash out my hair. I’ll be back.”

Benny, who was sitting beside them, snorted. “Yeah, being cleaned by _me._ You guys are disgusting.”

Dean held up his hands. “Just living up to the rumors.”

Cas came back in time to announce the next talent, and then sat down next to Dean.The night wore on, and more kids got up on stage to perform their talents. Garth got up with a creepy little sock puppet, Mr. Fizzles, and told some jokes. Ash and Andy brought a little rocket on the stage that was promptly removed right before it was light. (“Ya idgits, your parents are right there, you think we’re gonna let you light the whole dang camp on fire?”)

Gabriel’s jokes were annoying but for the most part appropriate. Lilith sang some cutesy song that made all the parents go “aww” but the counselors all exchanged looks. They all knew her cuteness was just a friendly façade. Meg helped Ruby and Abbie through a game of double-dutch, which somehow looked intimidating to Dean. Samandriel juggled.

Sam and his friends were actually pretty great. Even though he was the only boy, he didn’t look awkward dancing along to some pop song with all of the girls. Dean kind of imagined that it would be sort of well, girly, but it was actually pretty cool. It wasn’t Britney Spears or Katy Perry or some shit, in fact, it was some guy singing.

For the most part, it was mostly just a line dance- they all kinda did the same thing, but it was fun, and everyone had a good time. There were a couple of drug references that definitely flew right over the kids’ heads, but it didn’t really matter. Sam kicked and jumped at all the appropriate places, swinging his hips to the music. Heh, he was actually pretty good.

Finally, it came time for Dean to perform. “Alright ladies and gentleman, it’s time for the last performance of the night, our very own Dean Winchester and Benny Lafitte!” Castiel announced.

Gripping the guitar, Dean shyly made his way onto the stage, while Benny dragged two chairs for them to sit on. Cas was right behind them, setting up the mics. He made eye contact with Dean right before leaving the stage. “You’ll do great.” Dean took a deep breathe. Jesus, he hoped so.

“Hey everybody!” He called out. The crowd shouted back their various replies. “Isn’t Cas over there doin’ a swell job as host? Can we give him a quick round of applause for how well he’s done this evening?” The audience cheered, and it made Dean feel a little bit better. Talk about Cas. He can do that.

He glanced at Benny, who had his banjo ready to go.

“Uh, so this one goes out to Cas, who’s made this the best summer of my life.” The audience aww’d, and Dean’s cheeks burned. Oh well, they all already knew about him and Cas anyway, his might as well be a little cheese ball for him. “Alright well, this one’s an oldie but a goodie, so here we go.”

He strummed the first few chords and nodded at Benny, who tapped along with his banjo, scatting to the beat.

Dean exhaled. Okay, here goes nothing.

[ _“In the summertime when the weather is hot, you can stretch right up and touch the sky. When the weather’s fine, you got women you got women on your mind…”_ ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wvUQcnfwUUM&feature=kp)

Benny joined in with his banjo, and echoed his singing, giving the song a throaty background.

He caught eyes with Cas, who was positively grinning at him.

Cas had begged him to reveal what he was singing for the talent show, but he and Benny kept it under wraps. He had driven him back to the cabins last night after their little adventure, and Dean set to work on tracking down Benny. The lifeguard was delighted that Dean asked for his help, and after lights out, they snuck into the dining hall to practice.

He grinned back, and kept singing.

 _“When the weather's fine, we go fishin' or go swimmin' in the sea. We're always happy. Life's for livin' yeah, that's our philosophy…”_ they sang.

He was happy, he realized. Sam had been right, camp made him much happier than he had been in a really long time.

With another glance at Benny, he saw that his friend was grinning right along with him. He looked back into the crowd, who were clapping along, and just having a generally good time.

He wasn’t really sure why he picked that song. Probably because it was one of the few chords he had memorized still. That, and a few AC/DC and Led Zeppelin songs. Luckily Benny knew how to pick up songs from just listening to them, and after a couple of practices, they were set.

The performance wasn’t perfect. Dean stuttered a few times, both with his guitar and his voice, but Benny was a strong background, supporting him through the wobbly bits.

_“Have a drink, have a drive, go out and see what you can find…”_

It was a fun song, and Dean loved it. He made eye contact with Cas again, who held up an assuring thumbs up. Dean shook his head, beaming. Cas was so fuckin’ awkward, Dean loved him.

Oh shit, did Dean really just think that? Where the fuck did that come from?

He faltered for a minute, but then focused on Cas’s grin, and finished up through the rest of the scats.

They finished the song, and the crowd exploded into the cheers. Dean and Benny stood up to bow.

“Good job, brother,” Benny said, clapping him on the shoulder.

But Dean didn’t hear him. All he was focused on was the man standing in the back of the crowd next to Bobby, his arms crossed, looking at Dean bemusedly.

He caught Dean’s eye, and gave a half-hazard wave.

John Winchester had actually showed up to parent night.

***

As soon as Cas got back up on stage to invite the parents to the lakeside for the fireworks show, Dean rushed down to his father, nudging his way through the crowd.

“Dad? You came?”

John frowned. “I had a case in the area. Bobby called and said I should stop by. I just came in time to see your and Sammy’s talents. Nice job, son.” He sounded neutral, as if he was testing Dean.

Dean was at a loss. He had basically just declared his big gay love for Cas in front of the entire camp, and now, his father. Son of a bitch.

“I-I…” Dean stuttered, unsure of what to say.

“I was just telling your old man here how you’re one of the best counselors I got here,” Bobby cut in, patting John on the back. “Raised him good, John.” Thank God for Bobby.

John raised an eyebrow. “Oh yeah?” He fixed a scrutinizing stare on Dean, and he felt like he was under a microscope.

“Yes sir,” Dean said. “Well, I’d like to think I’m doing a good job.”

His father nodded. “Hmm. Interesting.”

“Well, I’d love to stay and chat, John, but I have a firework show to tend to. God knows I can’t trust my rec staff to do it.” He patted John on the back again, dismissively.

“Should I go get Sammy or…?” Dean asked, gesturing to the crowd. He glanced over his shoulder. Sam was excitedly talking to Jessica and her parents. Meeting the parents already, huh?

Guess Dean couldn’t really meet Cas’s parents, though.

“You’re not coming to take us away, are you?” Dean asked, frowning. “Because that’s not fair.”

John shook his head. “No, I wasn’t lying when I said I was just in the neighborhood. Had a case about sixty miles from here, and Bobby said I should stop by.”

“So none of my phone calls were an indicator that you should stop by? Just Bobby telling you to get your ass over here?” Dean was trying so, so hard not to sound accusatory. Except, hell. He felt accusatory. He’d been trying to call his dad all fucking summer, and now he randomly shows up, six weeks later? Fuck that.

Dean felt a warm hand touch his lower back. Cas. Shit, not here. Not in front of his dad. He froze against the touch, and the hand slithered away.

“Hey Dean, I was about to head over to the fireworks show, would you like to come with me?” Cas asked. He glanced at John awkwardly, and then stuck his hand out. “Hello sir, I’m Castiel Novak. Can I help you with something?” Oh geez, he probably thought Dean got cornered by an angry parent, and was giving him an out.

John did not shake Cas’s hand. “Are you the man who supposedly gave my son ‘the best summer of his life’?” He said, mimicking Dean bitterly.

Dean cringed. His dad certainly did not sound impressed by that.

Cas frowned. “You must be Dean’s father. How are you, sir?”

John harumphed. “Fine. What is your job here at this camp?”

Oh, it was on. The cook steadied his shoulders, and looked John square in the eye. “Well, technically my position at Kripke is ‘head chef’, and I oversee the preparation of all meals, but I am also the owner of the entire camp.”

If a poker game was ever played between the two, Dean isn’t sure who would win, because they both assessed each other with such cold neutrality, that they’d probably stare at each other forever.  
“Dean, you never said that you were sleeping with your boss in any of your voicemails,” John said evenly, eyes never leaving Cas. Well, if there was any doubt in Dean’s mind that John didn’t know the nature of their relationship, it was gone now.

“I-” Dean choked. He was panicking. All he wanted to do was grab Cas’s hand and run away. He wanted to pack up his entire life and hide inside the cabin in the woods forever and ever. This was horrifying.

“Dad?”

The three men turned to see Sam, wringing his hands together nervously. “When did you get here?”

“In time to see your dance, son.”

Apparently Sam was a lot happier to see John than Dean, because he threw himself into John’s arms, hugging him tightly. John gasped at the sudden hug, but hugged his son back all the same. Dean wasn’t sure he’d ever seen Sam willingly hug his father.

“I’m sorry I was so bratty about coming to camp. I’m glad you sent Dean and I. I’ve made so many friends and I’ve learned how to do so much! And, I’ve had a lot of fun. Thank you so much, dad!” Sam babbled.

John pulled back. “Sam? I didn’t send you to camp.”

Sam’s eyebrows furrowed. “What do you mean?”

“Dean did all that. I put my foot down, until Bobby agree to let you come to camp if Dean worked for free.”

Sam backed away. “What?”

John turned to Dean. “You didn’t tell him? The only reason you’re here is because of Dean.”

The youngest Winchester looked absolutely heartbroken. “You’re working for free?” He asked Dean, his lip quivering. “You gave up your summer for me?”

Dean shrugged. “I did what I had to, Sam. I wanted you to have one last good summer before you had to grow up.”

“You could have at least asked me!” Sam cried angrily, wiping at his face. Oh shit, he was trying not to cry.

“Hey Sam, are you gonna watch the firework show with us?” a girl called out.

Sam sniffled, and then turned towards the voice. “Yeah, just give me a sec!” He turned back towards Dean. “We’re not done talking about this.” Then to John: “See you in August, dad.”

He trailed away from the group, his jaw tightened and angry. He brightened up when he returned to his little posse of girls, and Dean had to wonder how much of it was fake. It was strange how quickly he could turn his frown upside-down. How often was Sam faking his happiness? It was scary.

“I should go,” John said, quietly.

“No, dad, you don’t have to!” Dean protested. “I mean, I’m kinda pissed at you, but you just got here. Stay, hang out with me and Cas.”

Cas smiled at him encouragingly.

“Please stay, Mr. Winchester. Bobby puts on a great firework show.”

Dean nodded. “Yeah! I mean, I’ve never seen it before, but all the other counselors that’ve worked here before say it’s awesome. And you could tell me all about your summer. What cases you’ve been on and stuff and-” he cut himself off.

He took a deep breath. “And you could get to know Cas, some. He’s important to me,” Dean finally managed.

Fingers laced into his own, and he squeezed them tight.

John shook his head. “Happy 4th of July, Dean.” He turned away, and Dean felt panicky again. he didn’t want his dad to leave.

“I might go to college,” Dean blurted.

John stilled. Cas turned to stare at him.

“What?” They both asked, simultaneously.

Dean suddenly felt really silly. It was an idea he had been playing around with for a couple of weeks now. He hadn’t told anyone about it, not even Sam.

“I just… I don’t know. I’m really good with kids. Like, really really good. Maybe I could make a living with it. Work at a daycare, or even at a school or something. Get a teaching certificate. I mean, I don’t know how much school that takes to do or anything but… I don’t know.”

Cas stared at him. “Dean, that’s a great idea.”

“Absolutely not.” John said.

“But-”

“So you’re just going to abandon your family? Just like that? Who’s gonna take care of Sammy, Dean?” John interrupted.

You would, he wanted to scream. You _should._

“Have fun playing house with your _friend_ over here for the next couple of weeks, but when the summer ends, I’ll text you the coordinates of where I want you and Sammy to meet me.”

He turned on his heel about-face, and left.

Dean stared after his father until he could no longer see him in the distance.

Most of the families were gone by then, all headed down the hill to the lakeside for the show. Dean turned towards Cas, tears brimming his eyes. Jesus, he felt so fucking stupid. Of course he can’t run off to some community college and get a degree. He didn’t even have any sort of plan to go about doing it, he was just starting to look into it.

Who was he kidding? He barely passed high school, and that was because his kid brother had to practically force him to do his school work.

“Dean-” Cas said, reaching for him.

“Don’t,” he said gruffly. “Let’s just go watch the damn fireworks show.”

Cas pulled him into a tight hug, and Dean immediately felt some of the tension leave his body.

“I’m such a fuckup,” he mumbled into Cas’s shoulder. “They hate me.” He hated himself, for letting himself look so weak in front of Cas.

“No one hates you,” Cas said soothingly, rubbing his back. “You are not a fuckup.”

The phrase sounded so awkward coming from Cas’s lips, that Dean couldn’t help but laugh. They kind of just held each other for a while, soaking up each other’s warmth.  
An explosion ripped through the air, and bright colors danced on the other side of Dean’s closed eyelids. Oh, the firework show had started.

He kissed Cas’s cheek softly. “Happy 4th of July, Cas.”

“No taxation without representation,” he said back, and if that was a normal response.

Dean chuckled. “Let’s go watch the damn fireworks show.”

Cas nodded. “Okay.”


	8. The Adventures of Puke-Breath

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello everyone! I want to apologize for the lack of updates. I've been working really hard on my femslash minibang, but that's almost done now, so I can go back to concentrating more on this.

Dean had decided that he was going to spend the next weekend relaxing. Maybe toss a frisbee around with Gabe’s kids, go on a hike with Cas, make out a little bit, y’know, the usual stuff. Seeing his dad had worn him out a little bit, and he just wanted to sleep until lunch. 

Kripke had other plans. 

He woke up to the pleasant sounds of Gabriel blasting some pop song outside his window. He groggily rolled over and glanced at his phone. Okay, in what universe was it acceptable for him to wake up when the clock was in single digits on his day off? 

Rubbing his eyes, his waddled over to the window, and glared out at his friend. “The hell dude?” 

“You locked your door,” he whined, putting his iPod away. 

“Yeah, because I didn’t want you to bother me!” Dean groaned. “Go away.”

“Sorry toots, Bobby wants to see you. Now, preferably.”

A sense of dread washed over him. Why would the camp leader want to see him? Oh god, he was fired. He was so fired. Bobby found out about the lifejacket shack and he was fired. Or maybe staff members aren’t supposed to dedicate sappy songs to their boyfriends at a fucking talent show for the parents. Maybe Bobby got angry phone calls about it. True, Cas did say that he had final say on who got fired, but maybe Bobby had a way around that. Or maybe Cas didn’t want him anymore, now that he’s met John. 

He walked down to Bobby’s office, above the dining hall, fully prepared to be fired. 

“Oh good, you’re here,” Bobby said, looking up when Dean knocked on the already open door. “Gabriel said that you were still sleeping, but I knew he was lying, because you certainly weren’t asleep at 9:30 in the morning, right?”

Dean rubbed at the back of his neck. “Uh… right. Gabe’s crazy.”

Bobby nodded, but he didn’t look all that convinced. “Right well, let’s get to it.”

Well, here it comes. It was a fun job while it lasted. 

Dean braced himself to get the boot, but when Bobby turned back around, he was holding a really tiny shovel. 

“Uh, why do you have that really tiny shovel?”

Bobby snorted. “It’s called a trowel. We’ll need it.”

Horrified, Dean asked, “For _what?_ ”

Oh god, instead of firing Dean, he was just going to do the world a favor and kill him. 

“Didn’t Gabe tell you that you’re helpin’ me garden today?” He asked, pulling out a pair of gardening gloves from his drawer. “The flower beds next to the dining hall need a little TLC, and I figured you were just the man to help me with it.”

Dean raised an eyebrow. “I’m just the man to help you play with flowers?” Was this a gay thing? _Did_ he know stuff about flowers? 

Dumbly, Dean followed Bobby outside and took the trowel when handed to him. “What am I supposed to do?”

Bobby rolled his eyes, and sighed exasperatedly. “Don’t know what my boy Cas sees in you.”  
He knelt down, and gestured for Dean to do the same. “Look, see all these weeds? Pull ‘em out. And don’t just tug at the leaves, make sure you pull the roots out with ‘em. Make it look all nice.”

“Is that why you pulled me out here? To threaten me about Cas? ‘Cause Balthazar already did that like, four times.”

The older man laughed. “No, I’m not gonna threaten you over that boy. He’s a smart kid, he knows what he’s doing. God knows you’re better than the last one.”

Dean didn’t bother to ask about “the last one”, he’d heard enough already from everyone else. He didn’t know much about Cas’s ex, but he knew that he didn’t want to hurt him like he did. 

They sat in silence for a while, pulling out weeds. 

“Cas told me what you said to John,” Bobby said after a while. “About going to college. I think it’s good.”

Dean blinked. He hadn’t even meant for Cas to hear about it, much less Bobby. It made him feel self-conscious, like Bobby was going to think he wasn’t good enough for higher education. Hell, he wouldn’t be wrong. 

“Yeah, it was just a passin’ thought. Kinda dumb, right?” He laughed, self-deprecatingly.

“Don’t sound dumb to me,” Bobby said casually. He patted the dirt with his trowel. “And believe me, I’ve heard some dumb stuff in my life.” 

Oh. He chewed on that thought for a minute. One of the weeds was stuck deep, deep down, and wasn’t coming up no matter how hard Dean pulled. Frowning, he stabbed his trowel into the dirt. 

“What if… what if I can’t do it? I dicked around a lot in high school,” Dean confessed. 

“Then don’t dick around in college,” Bobby harumphed. “Look, kid. I know your daddy isn’t that impressed with the idea of you going to school, but I am. So here’s the deal: you go to that community college in town, and I’ll let you stay at camp for free.”

Dean balked. “Bobby, are you serious?” 

The man shrugged. “Why the hell not? You’re a good kid, and you’re good _with_ kids. We always need more dedicated teachers in this world.”

He hadn’t been lying, going to college and becoming a teacher really had been a passing thought. But what if he did stay at Kripke? What if he could go to college? Granted, it was only community college, but still, he could get an education. But he barely passed high school with a 2.8 GPA, and that was with all the moving and messing around. If he buckled down and actually tried, could he do any better? 

And living at Kripke? With Cas? He tried to picture himself living at Kripke in the school year, but he just couldn’t. It would feel too weird without Sam and his campers to take care of. He couldn’t see himself going to classes during the day, and then coming back to camp and doing his homework in the dining hall. It seemed just too surreal. 

Dean must’ve stayed quiet for too long, because Bobby bumped shoulders with him. “Just think about, okay boy? I’ll talk it over with your old man, if you want me to.”

He smiled up at Bobby gratefully. “Thanks.” He really meant it. With one final tug, he finally got the tricky weed out, sprinkling dirt everywhere. 

“Ah hell, Dean. I said _not_ to pull at that leaves!”

***

Wandering into the kitchen, Dean grinned when he saw Cas standing with back turned, talking to Meg and Anna.

Meg smirked when she saw Dean, and Cas whipped around and grinned right back at Dean.

“Hello Dean.”

“Hey hottie,” Dean replied. “You busy?”

Cas pulled at the strings of his apron, and chucked it off unceremoniously. “Not anymore.”  
They decided to hike today, walking hand and hand as they wandered through the woods surrounding Cas’s house. Dean wondered what it was like to grow up under trees, instead of under the roof of the Impala. Cas had never even been in the Impala, Dean realized. It  
was weird how separate his two worlds were.

Dean decided not to tell Cas about Bobby’s deal, not yet. He wanted the decision to be his own, not Cas’s. If he told Cas that he might be able to stay, and Cas encouraged him, he knew that he wouldn’t be able to say no. He wanted it to be his decision, not Cas’s.

So they walked under the shady trees together, enjoying the final crispness of the morning.

“Have you talked to Sam yet?” Cas asked.

After John had left, they went to the firework show together, where Sam watched them from afar, wearily. Dean wasn’t sure how pissed Sam was, so he decided to give him his distance. He’d accidentally skipped breakfast again, so he hadn’t got a chance to see him yet and talk to him about it.

“Not yet, no. Maybe I’ll find him during Capture the Flag.”

Cas nodded. “That sounds like a good idea.”

“I just don’t want him to be pissed at me, you know? ‘S why I never told him in the first place about Bobby letting me work here.”

“Perhaps that’s why he’s so angry,” Cas suggested. “He assumed all summer that you chose to come to camp to pick up some extra cash, but now he sees it as one more sacrifice you had to make for him. He probably feels guilty.”

Dean stared at his friend. “How come you’re so smart?”

Cas shrugged. “I eat all my vegetables,” he deadpanned.

“Hey, is that supposed to be a hint or something?” Dean laughed. “I eat my veggies.”

The chef raised an eyebrow. “I’m sorry, I didn’t realize meat was a vegetable.”

“Shut up. I eat my greens.” He sniffed. “And even if I don’t, who cares? I’m a healthy guy. I exercise.”

They walked along the trail, gently teasing each other. Sometimes when Dean was around  
Cas, his cheeks hurt from grinning so much. Things just felt okay around him.

Suddenly, they were standing in front of Cas’s cabin, and the weight of how alone they were settled in Dean’s stomach. Did they end up here on purpose? Dean hadn’t been paying that close of attention to where they were, he just went where his feet took him.

“I didn’t mean to lead us here,” Cas murmured. Dean’s neck whipped towards him. It was scary how often Cas seemed to comfortably settle into Dean’s brain. He never had to work that hard to know what he was thinking, and that scared the crap out of Dean. “We can keep walking, if you want.”

“Can we… can we go inside?” Dean asked, knowing there was more behind what he was  
saying than just that.

“Yeah, we can do that,” Cas said. “Whatever you want, Dean.”

Wordlessly, Dean followed Cas into the cabin. Once inside, he stopped in the living room, and turned to Dean. “Want to watch a movie?”

They could do that. They could pop in _Back to the Future III,_ cozy up on the couch, and maybe exchange a few lazy hand jobs before lunch. It would be comfortable, easy.

But that’s not what they were going to do, was it?

“Do you _want_ to watch a movie?” Dean asked.

Cas shrugged. “Not particularly.”

Jesus, the tension was so thick you could reach out and touch it. With a strike of panic, Dean wondered, were they about to have sex? Like, for real this time? Real, gay sex where a dick goes in someone’s ass? Dean wasn’t sure if he could do that yet.

“Can I see some of your art?” Dean blurted.

Cas blinked. Well, there’s something new. Dean doesn’t think he’s ever surprised Cas before. “If you want to.” 

He led him to his bedroom, which only made him panic more. Dean had never been in here before. As far as bedrooms went, it was pretty average looking. It was certainly cleaner than Gabriel’s, apart from a few sketchbooks and paints lying about.

Dean awkwardly sat on the bed. Cas stood in front of him, frowning. “I’m not sure what to show you,” he confessed. “I don’t usually show people my work.”

“Whatever you want to show me,” Dean said, putting emphasis on the want.

Cas picked up one of the sketchbooks laying by the bedside, flipped through it for a few moments, and then handed it to Dean. “This one is a few years old, but I like what’s inside.”

Dean opened the front page, and laughed when he saw a picture of Bobby, disgruntled but pleased. “Never took Bobby to be the modelling type.”

Cas blushed. “I was going through a portrait phase. I went all around camp, begging people to pose for me. I’m afraid it’s not something I do very often, these days.”

Flipping through the book, Dean found more he recognized. Some were half scrawled skeletons of a drawing, but some were full sketches that looked like pictures snapshotted on the page. What was interesting about them is that they looked like they were moving: drawings of Missouri moving about in the nurse’s station, of Gabriel, throwing his head back and laughing, of Balthazar, bending over and talking to a kid. Cas had effectively stolen moments in time, and pasted it in the book.

“Cas, these are amazing. Shit, man.”

Cas blushed, and looked away. “It’s a good hobby.”

“More than just a hobby, dude. You’re talented.” He turned the page, and paused on a detailed drawing of a very serious looking boy. “I don’t recognize this one.” This one Cas had actually taken the time to color, making the drawing look even more realistic. Dean stared down at the light-haired boy. This wasn’t just a quickly scrawled doodle, capturing a quick moment. Love had gone into this.

Dean looked up, to see Cas had sobered up from his embarrassment over Dean’s praise. 

He was frowning again, sadness and anger touching his face.

“That is Bartholomew. He’s ah… well I suppose you would call him my ex.”

Dean raised his eyebrows. “This guy? The one that everyone is always talking about?”

Cas cringed. Whoops, wrong thing to say. It was true, they both knew that everyone was always talking about everything, but Dean knew from experience that it sucked hearing about it.

“I’ve uh, I’ve been threatened a couple of times over making sure I treat you right. You know, Balthazar, Gabe, those guys. You were hurt, huh?”

Cas sighed, and sat down next to Dean. “I suppose I should tell you the story.”

“You don’t have to if you don’t want to.”

He shook his head. “No, I want to. It’s not a secret, I don’t mind telling you.”

He leaned back against the headboard, closed his eyes, and began to speak: “He was a counselor, when we were both twenty-one. Bart was… charming. He knew how to get people to do what he wanted, it’s part of what made him such a great counselor. It didn’t make him a good person, however. We weren’t uh, we weren’t a couple. Not in the way you and I are.” He opened an eye and peaked at Dean, suddenly self-conscious.

Dean reached out and squeezed his hand, confirming that yes, they were a couple. 

Cas squeezed back. “The thing is, I had assumed that he and I were… like how you and I are. But at the end of the summer, he told me that he was straight, and just wanted to experiment with men. We were just ‘friends with benefits.’” Cas said, air quotes and all. 

“That’s fucked up, dude.”

Cas nodded. “I miscalculated his intentions, I guess. I thought that we were in love, but he just wanted a summer fling. He’s the only person I’ve ever had sex with.”

“I’m sorry, Cas.” Dean was at a loss of what to say, but it felt good that he and Cas both understood that their relationship wasn’t just a fling. Dean wasn’t using Cas to experiment with guys like Cas thought. “Last guy I was with, we were what you’d call friends with benefits, too. We didn’t have sex, um, like there was no butt stuff, but we messed around. But uh, we were both on the same page, you know?”

“Yeah,” Cas said, even though Dean was pretty sure he didn’t know. “I have many regrets, but you’re not one of them, Dean. I know what people think about you- they think you’re just like Bartholomew, but you’re not. You’re different.”

Dean felt relieved. He knew that he wasn’t using Cas, “Thanks, Cas.” 

Castiel leaned his head on Dean’s shoulder. “I’m glad you didn’t waste your virginity on someone who didn’t mean anything to you.”

Dean snorted. “Hate to break it to you, Cas, but I’m not exactly a virgin. Inexperienced with dudes, maybe, but definitely not a virgin.”

He chuckled, hot warm breath tickling Dean’s neck. “I assumed as much. But you know what I mean.”

“Yeah, I understand. It’ll be with someone I care about.” Dean turned his head so he could press a kiss to the top of Cas’s head. He scooted their bodies down, so that they were lounging more than sitting. He wrapped his arms around Cas, and Cas burrowed his face into Dean’s chest. 

After a while, Dean said, “I care about you, you know.” 

Cas laughed. “Oh, I bet.” He glanced up at Dean, and smiled shyly. Reaching up, he pressed a warm kiss to Dean’s lips. “Dean?”

“Yeah?”

“I’m not going to have sex with you today.”

Dean exhaled. “Oh thank God.”

He laughed again, eyes crinkly and smile gummy. “ _Today_ ,” he emphasized. 

The relief was overwhelming. There was nothing Dean wanted more than to be with Cas, but the idea of anyone’s dick going anywhere but in a hand or mouth sounded absolutely terrifying. Maybe if he stayed at Kripke, like Bobby said he could, then maybe. 

“I’m gonna hold you to that, Mr. Cas.”

Cas shrugged. “We’ll see.”

***

They didn’t leave Cas’s bedroom until it was time for Cas to cook lunch, spending their time lazily making out and-although Dean would never admit to it-cuddling. 

At lunch, Dean tried to wave at Sam from the staff’s table, and was promptly ignored. Sam was casually chatting away with some friends, but it didn’t look like an important conversation enough to glaze over Dean as if he wasn’t there. Huh. 

Dean spent the rest of the day hanging out with Cas, so he didn’t see Sam again until dinner, where he was ignored, again. 

As the kids were leaving the dining hall, Dean jogged up to Sam, and caught him by the arm. “Dude, what’s up?”

Sam frowned. “Let go, Dean.” He tried to shake Dean off, but Dean was still bigger than him, if only for a little while. 

“What the hell, dude? Are you mad at me or something?”

Sam gaped. “Are you joking? Of course I am. Just leave me alone, Dean.” He jerked his arm away, and this time, Dean let him go. 

The next few days weren’t any better. Even after his campers came back, Sam dutifully ignored his presence. Any time Dean saw him, Sam would quickly dart his eyes away, refusing to make eye contact. It was awful.

It especially sucked because out of everyone in his life, Sam was the person he talked to the most. He was always so good at the whole feelings thing, and Dean really needed someone like that right now. Whenever Dean had a problem, well, he never went to Sam with it, because Sam usually figured it out before he could buck up the courage to ask for help. Usually Sam would push and prod at Dean until he opened up, but now, he didn’t care. 

He really needed to discuss Bobby’s new deal with him, though. 

It was so bad, that Dean actually woke himself up early enough to go to the morning staff meeting, so he could catch Gabriel. 

“Dean! I had no idea you were even capable of waking up before lunch,” Balthazar said in lieu of an actual greeting. 

Gabriel pulled out a chair next to him, and patted the seat. “Come on in, Dean, we were just discussing the plague.”

Dean took the seat next to Gabe, and Bobby regarded him silently. This was probably the third or fourth daily staff meeting Dean had actually managed to make it to this year. The staff crowded around the staff table while Bobby talked, with a few more spilling into the other tables. From where he stood next to Bobby, Cas waved. 

“Right well, as I was saying, it’s a nasty bug, so make sure you’re catching up with them. Missouri, you wanna fill Dean in here on what you said earlier?” Bobby gestured to the nurse. 

Missouri sighed. “We got a 24 hours flu going around camp. Must’ve come from one of the younger kids that go home each weekend. It’s nasty, but short-lived. If you notice your kids are lookin’ tired, check in on ‘em. It’s a lot of puking and just feelin’ generally icky. Not enough to send them home or nothing, just keep ‘em in bed with a bucket, okay?”

Dean nodded. Just what he needed, barfing little boys. “You got it, Missouri.”

“Just take ‘em in to me so I can keep tabs on who’s throwing up, then stick them in their bunks. I’ll come around and check on them all day.”

“Right well, that’s all I got for you. Go back to your cabins, okay? Oh, and no more ick finger games, got it? We got enough as it is, ya idjits.” Bobby waved them away in dismissal, and the staff stood to go. 

As they were leaving, Dean caught Gabriel. “Hey, can I ask you something?”

“You just did, Winchester.”

Dean rolled his eyes. “Shut up. I need your help. Sam’s pissed at me, and won’t tell me why.”

Gabriel smirked. “Did you ask him?”

“I… no. He won’t talk to me.”

“He’s a kid, of course he won’t. But letting him stew in his anger isn’t going to do anything. Get over yourself and confront him.”

“You… confront someone,” Dean retorted badly. But Gabriel was right, he needed to just sit down and talk to Sam.

***

Dean had cleaned up a lot of barf in his day. He’d cleaned up Sam’s puke when he got sick, he’s cleaned up John’s on a bad night, and hell, he’d even cleaned up his own. Dean fucked hated it. He hated the gross texture, and he hated how the smell stayed curled up in your nose for hours afterwards, lingering like an unwelcome asshole.

The first time it happened, he called Missouri on his cell phone, who informed him that she wasn’t a maid, but she had some cleaning supplies he could borrow. The second time it happened, he sighed, and gagged his way through mopping up the barf. By the fourth time, he banned all kids from Cabin Terra, because he was pretty sure some of them weren’t actually sick, they were just sympathy barfing. 

He opened all the windows and doors in the cabin, and set a fan running so that Kevin and Garth, the campers that were actually sick, could sleep without sitting in their own smell. It was horrible.  
Terra wasn’t the only cabin full of sickies, Smoke, Cloud, and Camo all had pukers of their own. Missouri ran back and forth between cabins, checking up on all of the sick kids. 

To put their minds of the trauma of watching their peers barf everywhere, Bobby set up an emergency movie night. All of the remaining kids hiked up the hill to the big screen, where an animated film played. 

“Bobby doesn’t usually like having more than one movie night a summer,” Cas said. “But I think this constitutes a good reason.”

“God, it was fuckin’ awful, Cas. I cleaned up so much puke. Disgusting.” Dean shivered. He may not be a neat freak, but he definitely enjoyed hygiene. Sitting with Cas was a comfort though, cozying up in the back behind all of the kids. 

“Remember last movie night?” Cas asked. 

Dean grinned. “I was so embarrassed that I fell asleep on you. Geesh, talk about cliches.” 

“That was the first time you ever held my hand.” 

Oh yeah, Dean had forgotten about that. How terrifying it was to show affection like that. Touching a dude’s dick, that was easy. Holding his hand? That meant something much more. But hell, Cas meant something more. 

He still hadn’t told Cas about Bobby’s deal. If Dean stayed, it meant that their relationship could last past August. Then again, he still wasn’t sure if Cas wanted it to last. 

“My campers asked me if we were boyfriends that night,” Dean said. “God, I was so pissed at them for figuring out my little crush on you.”

Cas raised his eyebrows in mock surprise. “You have a crush on me?” Dean laughed. He was getting good at being able to tell when Cas was joking. 

“No way, buddy. This,” he said, gesturing between them. “Strictly platonic.”

Cas’s face fell. “I had thought we shared a more profound bond,” he said sadly. “I wasn’t going to mention it.” 

Well shit. Dean had been joking, and he was pretty sure that Cas was still joking too, but the words still resonated. “Ah shit, Cas…”

The man beside him grinned. “Joking, obviously.” 

Dean knocked his body into Cas’s. “You jerk.”

Cas grinned. “A little bit.” He curled his body into Dean’s, and Dean wrapped his arm around him. “This is my movie,” Cas said. “Bobby stole this from my shelf in my cabin.”

Dean glanced up. Projected onto the crappy screen with a tiny hole in the corner, was two race cars, bantering back and forth.  
“ _Cars_? Cas, you own _Cars_ but you’ve never seen _Back to the Future_?”

Cas scrunched up his face. “I have seen _Back to the Future._ With you, remember?”

Dean snorted. “Yeah Cas, I know.”

They were silent after that, watching the annoying kids’ movie. It was the kind of crap that Sam would put on at a hotel room, and Dean would pretend to watch it ironically, but secretly love it. In fact, by the end of the movie, Dean found himself cheering on the racecar as he decided that the little town in the middle of nowhere was actually his real home. 

Huh. 

***

Kevin and Garth were sitting up in their bunks, chatting away excitedly. Thank god, Dean thought, they’re not sick anymore. 

“Is the movie over?” Kevin pouted.

“We were just gonna get up and go find you guys!” Garth said. 

Dean shook his head. “Sorry guys, the movie’s over. Don’t worry, we’re doing fun stuff tomorrow, too.”

“What are we doing tomorrow?” Andy asked, hopping into his sleeping bag. 

Dean wrinkled his nose. “Dude, what did I say about sleeping in your jeans? Disgusting.” Andy giggled and wiggled out of his jeans, before dropping them on the floor. Oh well. Dean plopped onto Andy’s bed next to him, causing another fit of giggles. “Let’s see here,” he said, pulling out their weekly schedule. “Tomorrow’s Thursday, so we got fishing lessons with Bobby, swimming, free time-hey wanna go on a hike then?-uh, soccer game with Cloud Cabin, rock climbing wall, and arts and crafts.”

Immediately, the kids burst into conversation, discussing with each other various plans such as “I’m going to get to the top this time!” (“No you’re not!”) and “Can we go swimming _while_ we go fishing?” ("Absolutely not! Are you crazy?") 

Satisfied, Dean tousled Andy’s hair, and hopped off of the bed. When he stood up, he felt his stomach lurch uncomfortably. He patted his tummy lightly. Clearly he had had too many burritos at dinner that night. Not his fault Cas was an excellent cook. 

“Hey, you guys feel better?” He asked Kevin and Garth. They nodded cheerfully. “Good, well, I’m sure you guys can be with the group tomorrow, alright?” The boys grinned and nodded again, emphatically. “Alright, go to bed you little punks.”

“Night Dean,” a few of them sing-songed. Dean groaned. He was turning into fucking Ms. Hannigan. 

***

When Dean woke up the next morning, he felt queasy, but shook it off as a lack of breakfast. His stomach felt gross and bloated, and it wasn’t that hot out, so he figured it would be fine if he decided to skip his usual jeans and wear a pair of sweats, instead. 

He herded Cabin Terra to breakfast, showing up on time for once. Jesus, why was he so tired today? He slept okay the night before, apart from a little bit of tossing and turning. But other than that, he was fine. He just needed some food and caffeine, stat. 

“Whoa, what the hell happened to you, buttercup?” Gabriel asked as Dean plopped down beside him. 

Dean shrugged. “Slept like crap.”

Gabe narrowed his eyes like he didn’t believe what Dean was saying, but said nothing. 

Meg and Anna burst through the kitchen doors, carrying trays of food, and Dean’s stomach instantly curled at the smell. Ugh, what was that? Since when do eggs smell like poison and broken dreams? 

Cas came up behind Dean, and pecked a kiss to the top of his head before sitting down next to him. “Hello Dean, I was looking at the weekly schedule and I saw that your campers are fishing today and I-Dean? Are you okay?”

He blinked stupidly. “What?” His stomach still fucking hurt, everything was gross, and he really just wanted to get out of the fucking dining hall, but other than that he was fine. 

Cas leaned in and cupped his cheek, and stared him straight in the eyes. God, what was he doing? After a very long, borderline uncomfortable pause, Cas sat up and announced, “You’ve caught the bug that’s going around.”

Dean scoffed. “Winchesters don’t get sick.”

“Are you joking? You look like a weird member of the Addam’s Family.” Gabriel said, gesturing in Dean’s general direction. “Don’t get close Cas, he’ll barf on you. Where the hell is Missouri when you need her?”

Dean rolled his eyes. “I’m fine.”

“Oh yeah? Then have a bite of my eggs, champ.” He stuck his fork at Dean. The smell was horrible. Dean gagged. His head was so heavy. God, maybe he could go nap for the rest of breakfast before they had swim…

“Dean!” Cas said, snapping in front of his face. “You’re ill.”

He shrugged. “Probably. I’ve been barfed on enough times. 

Cas stood up. “I’m going to go see if Bobby can watch your group for the day.”

“What? Don’t be ridiculous,” Dean said, but it was too late, Cas was already wandering away. 

God damnit. 

He felt a little woozy, so he rested his head against the table. The silverware pressed sharply into his skin, but it felt cool, and was comforting. Maybe he could just stay here for the rest of breakfast. He closed his eyes and listened to the dull roar of the dining hall, everyone’s voices melting into one singular sound. Over that, he could hear Charlie and Gabriel quietly discussing Dean. He wanted to sit up and tell them that he was fucking fine, damnit, but he was a little busy telling his stomach to settle down. 

A hand touched his shoulder, and Dean sat up. “Son? You alright?” Bobby, Missouri, and Cas stood behind him. Bobby searched Dean’s face, and sighed. “You look like crap.”

“That’s what I said!” Gabriel chimed in. 

Cas glared at Gabe, but then again, Cas was always glaring at Gabe. 

“Not helpful, boy,” Bobby said, smacking the back of his head. “Well, looks like I’ll be taking over your cabin for the day.” 

“What?! That’s ridiculous Bobby!” Dean pushed his chair back and leapt up, but immediately felt dizzy. 

“Whoa…” 

Bobby gripped his arm to stop him from falling forward, and Cas rushed behind to hold him up. “Dean, you’re being ridiculous.”

“You need to go lie down,” Missouri said firmly. “You must think I’m crazy if you think I’m allowing you around kids. Uh-uh.”

“I haven’t even thrown up yet,” Dean protested weakly. “And I can’t just leave ‘em.”

“I already told you, I’ll play counselor for today. Cas’ll take you home and take care a’ you for the time being.” Bobby, patted his arm, and shifted him so that Cas was holding him up. 

Dean let Cas lead him to the golf cart parked out back. “You’ve never been inside Baby…” Dean mumbled. 

“Pardon?” 

Dean gestured vaguely as Cas started up the golf cart. “You know… my car. Baby. She’s been parked next to Cabin Terra all summer. ‘S mine.”

Cas nodded. “Yes, I figured that was your car. It’s nice.”

“You’ve never been in it. That car is my life.” 

Dean wasn’t really sure why he was telling Cas this, except that maybe it was weird that Cas had never been in his car. His Impala was one of the most important things in his life, and his boyfriend had never even been inside it. It’s true though, that they’d never had a reason to drive anywhere. 

As the golf cart glided across the camp with a light vroom, Dean found himself day dreaming about what it would be like to drive in the Impala with Cas. Some Zeppelin playing, windows rolled down, the smell of warm sunshine… it would be nice. 

It took Dean a while to realize that they weren’t headed towards Cabin Terra, but instead, towards Cas’s cabin in the woods. Why wasn’t Cas just dropping him off at Terra so he could sleep? It would be a nice excuse to get some time alone together, if Dean wasn’t actually sick, but truth be told, he felt every little bump in the road against the pit of his stomach. 

“What’re we doing here?” Dean asked wearily as Cas switched off the engine. “I wanna sleep…”

“You can’t stay in Terra, there’s been enough puking there already. Besides, you don’t want to get more of your campers sick,” Cas reasoned. “Come on, I’ll put on a movie and give you some crackers.”

That sounded good. Yeah, Dean could do that. He stood up and immediately barfed in the bushes.

***

Being taken care of while you’re sick sucks, honestly. He woke up later in a haze, curled up in Cas’s bed. He bent over and clutched at the bucket that Cas had given him to puke in, but nothing came up but gross watery leftovers. Fuck. His body was sore from dry heaving, and he honestly had had enough. 

“I hate this. Fuck this.” 

Cas glanced up from where he was sketching across the room. There was no other furniture in Cas’s bedroom besides the bed, nightstand, and dresser, so the man was sitting upright against his closet, watching Dean like a creep.

“You watching me sleep, dude?”

Cas shrugged. “Probably. I just want to make sure you’re okay. Sam came looking for you.”

Dean sat up straighter. “Is he here?”

“I didn’t want to have him wake you, so I sent him away.”

“Next time, wake me anyway,” he said, and then promptly heaved into the bucket. 

***

“Dean?”

“Hmm? Cas?”

Sam sighed. “Nope, just me, your only brother.”

Dean opened his eyes. Why was he in Cas’s room again?

The younger Winchester sat down carefully at the foot of the bed. “You okay, dude? Everyone at camp is freaking out. Cas left to take you away and nobody’s heard from either of you all day.”

Dean looked over at Cas, who was still sitting in the same spot. He smiled sheepishly. “I let Meg take over the cooking duties for the day. I figured I deserved a day off.”

“Taking care of a puking dude is not a day off,” Dean said. “Remind me to show you what a real vacation is, dude.”

“Okay.” 

The shared a look then, communicating a certain...something. Dean wasn’t sure what. Something hopeful maybe? 

Sam coughed. “Are you okay?”

Dean shrugged. “I haven’t puked in a few hours, so that’s good. Missouri said I have that same twenty-four hour flu that everyone else had.”

“Yeah, a few kids in my cabin had that too.”

They sat in an awkward silence for a moment, neither of them quite sure what to say. 

“Are you still mad at me?” Dean blurted. 

Sam sighed. It was a tired, old, sigh. It was the same kind of sigh that their dad had whenever one of them asked him if they were moving again, or if they could get a nice apartment this time. “No, Dean. I was never mad.”

“But you said-”

Sam waved it away. “I’m not ma-I’m not upset at you. I’m upset that you gave up your summer so willingly just to make sure I had fun. I’m upset that you’re just so used to making sacrifices for me that you do it without thinking, and that you try and hide it from me. It sucks, y’know?”

Dean nodded dumbly. 

“But,” Sam smiled. “I guess it’s okay because you found a place here too.” He turned around to glance at Cas. “You got Cas.”

Dean couldn’t contain his smile. “Yeah, I do.”

Cas’s eyes twinkled. 

“Maybe I’m forgiving you because you’re sick,” Sam said. “But I am. Just, just don’t do that again, okay? Next year I’ll be too old, so you’ll just have to get paid like everyone else.”

“You’re working here next year?” Cas asked sharply, looking up. 

Dean fiddled with his amulet, a nervous habit. He hadn’t yet talked to Sam about Bobby’s new deal, mostly because Sam wouldn’t talk to him all week. Part of why he was so apprehensive about it was because he wasn’t sure how Sammy would react, but here he was, giving Dean permission to spend next summer here. 

“I uh, I’ve been meaning to talk to you about that…” Dean said, tugging at the cord. 

“Well, I’ll see you later, Dean. Feel better, okay?” Sam jumped off the bed. “I just came up here because I finished my dinner early.” He stood and pulled Dean into a light hug. 

“‘Kay, bye dude.”

Dean flopped back down on the bed, and his stomach instantly made him regret it. He wasn’t sure how to broach the topic with either of them, and the summer was approaching an end, fast.

Later that night, when Cas was driving Dean back to Terra, Dean slipped his hand into Cas’s. “Thanks for taking care of me all day, dude.”

Cas smiled. “Of course.”

They pulled in next to the cabin, just as Bobby was leading his campers inside. 

“Dean!”

“Dean, you’re alive!”

“Does this mean Bobby won’t be sleeping in your room tonight?”

Dean waved at his campers. He wasn’t sure if he was totally healthy, but he did spend almost the entire day sleeping, so he should do better tomorrow. At least enough that he could stand up long enough to take care of his kids. 

He waited until of his campers were inside, before reaching over and kissing Cas’s cheek. He would have gone for his lips but y’know, puke breath.

“Dean, I have to tell you something.” 

Dean sat up. “What is it?”

“I’m leaving at the end of the summer.”

His heart froze. Leaving? Leaving Dean? Leaving Kripke? Did Bobby tell him about the deal and Cas had decided that that was too much for him, and that he was out?  
“W-where?”

Cas took a deep breath. “I’ve decided that I’m going to go look for my father.”


	9. When the Sun Goes Down

“Dean, do you think-?”

“Shh… this is the best part.”

Dean held up a finger and tilted his head towards the radio in Cas’s bedroom. Cas rolled his eyes, but he smiled all the same. If he didn’t want this, he shouldn’t have asked Dean who Led Zeppelin was. It wasn’t Dean’s fault that Cas wasn’t educated, but it was his fault that Cas had gone all summer without hearing any of it.

When Cas had pointed to Dean’s Zeppelin t-shirt after he signed out his kids and politely asked what it was, Dean was flabbergasted, but even more so when he realized that he had been dating this guy for almost a month, and had been friends with him for almost three, and yet the guy hadn’t heard of Zeppelin. Shameful.

So he gathered up his tapes and marched them to the nearest tape player, which was stored away in Cas’s attic. Dean was currently laying on Cas’s bed playing Stairway to Heaven as he watched Cas flit around his room, rummaging.

“Hey, what’re you doing, anyway?” he asked, sitting up.

Cas dragged a box out of his closet. “Packing.”

Dean’s heart sank. They hadn’t talked about the fact that Cas was leaving at the end of the week. He reached over and turned down the music. “So uh, where are you gonna go?”

Cas shrugged. “Everywhere.”

“You’re gonna go look for your old man… everywhere? Just, all over the country?”

Shrug. “I suppose so. He has to be somewhere. Sometimes he writes, but it’s often vague and cryptic.”

“Try New Mexico,” Dean offered. “I hear he’s on a tortilla.”

Cas stopped lugging boxes around and turned to Dean. “No, he’s not on any flatbread.”

Dean snorted. “No, probably not.”

He followed Cas into the kitchen, as he dumped various items around the house into the box: nail clippers, earbuds, random receipts, a few mugs, some pens, basically stuff that was just lying around.

He packed like someone who had never packed to go anywhere a day in his life.  
He hadn’t ever packed to go anywhere, Dean realized.

“Hey, Cas, you want some help with that?” Cas agreed, and handed Dean the box. “What’s all this stuff, anyway? You’re uh, you’re coming back, right?”

Cas was moving things around in a drawer, facing away from Dean. He paused his rummaging, and sighed. “I don’t know, Dean. Bobby said that he’s renting the other bedroom out,” he said nodding towards one of the unused bedrooms in the cabin. Once upon a time it was Castiel’s shared bedroom with his brothers, but now it’s empty.

“What? To who?”

“I’m not sure. He said that he knows someone who could use it, and I didn’t ask any further. So I’m packing things away so that they will have more space to themselves.” Dean held the box as Cas moved around the cabin more, picking up canvases and palettes, and tucking them under his arm. “I’ll tuck these away in my closet, for now.”

“Cas.”

Cas ignored him, and wandered back into his bedroom. Dean followed, still carrying the box. “Cas, what the hell is going on?”

“I told you, I’m going to go look for my father.”

“But why? What good would that do?”

Cas stopped, and for the first time since he began gathering his things, he looked Dean in the eyes. “He’s my father. I should find him.”

“And what? Bring him back here? He’s the one that left, dude. I know a thing or two about fathers, and let me tell you, they’re not that interested in being places that they don’t wanna be. He’s probably off partying with some twenty-somethings on a beach.” Dean set the box back on Cas’s bed, and crossed his arms. “There’s no point, Cas.”

Cas’s eyes blazed, and he pierced his gaze into Dean. “You do not know my father.”

“Yeah? Well I know you. And I know that there’s more to this than you just wanting to find your old man. I think you just want to get out of here any way that you can, and you’re using your old man as an excuse.”

“Fuck you,” Cas said calmly, before exiting the cabin.

Dean sighed. Great.  
“Cas, wait.” He followed Cas out of the cabin, where he was sitting grumpily on the swing. “Mind if I sit here?”

Cas shrugged petulantly. “I guess.”

“Cool.”

He sat down next to Cas, and slid his hand onto his knee.

“I think we’re supposed to have a relationship discussion,” Cas said. “Last time I had one of those, it didn’t end so well.”

Dean snorted. “No kidding. Hey, wanna make out instead?”

“Dean. This is serious.”

He sighed. “I know.”

“We’re breaking up, aren’t we?”

Dean’s stomach dropped. “W-what? I don’t want to.”

“Neither do I, but the summer’s almost over. What are we supposed to do at the end?”

Images of Dean going to school in the fall flashed through his mind. Coming home at the end of each day, and parking his Baby right next to the golf cart. Dumping his keys on the counter and shouting out “honey, I’m home!” Cas turning from his latest masterpiece to greet Dean with a kiss. Doing homework on the very swing that they were sitting on. It would be like playing house. It would be their home. He wanted to tell Cas everything.

“I don’t know,” Dean said instead. “Can we just, can we just make the most of it?”

“Yeah,” Cas said, “we can do that.”

***

“No?! What d’ya mean no?”

Dean blinked. “I mean no. Uh, thanks though. No thanks.”

Bobby frowned. Dean had passed by his office with the intention of just mentioning in passing that he wasn’t interested in staying for the school year, but Bobby dragged him inside, and sat him down across from his desk. Funny, this is where he had done his job interview, all those months ago.

_“So Dean, you’ve never even been to Kripke before today. Why the sudden interest in working here?”_

_“Well, to be honest, I was kind of hoping we could make a deal.”_

_“S’that right?” Bobby asked, leaning back his chair. “What kind of deal would that be?”_

_“See, my brother Sammy is thirteen…”_

Bobby had been impressed back then at Dean’s selflessness, but now, he looked more frustrated and annoyed than anything.

“What’s the deal, Dean? Cas told me you wanted to be a teacher.”

He shrugged. “I do… or at least, something like that. Maybe.”

“So what? Is this about Castiel?” Bobby frowned. “You can’t make decisions based off of that boy. You’re your own person.”

“No! I mean, yeah I know that. I just… I can’t. I can’t leave Sammy.”

Bobby raised his eyebrows. “Why?”

“I don’t want to leave him with our dad,” Dean confessed. “And please don’t offer to let him stay here too.” He didn’t think his pride could handle it. He stood up. “This doesn’t have to do with Cas. Well, maybe it does a little. But that’s not what’s important. What’s important is Sam. Taking care of him, it’s my job, and I can’t do that if I’m here.”

Bobby sighed. “I can’t say I agree with you, but I also can’t stop you.”

“I’m sorry.”

Bobby waved him away. “Don’t you have stuff to do?”

***

It was the last official weekend of camp. The kids would come back on Monday, and leave again on Friday. The staffers were expected to stay one more day to help clean up camp and attend the end of the year party, and then that was it. Kripke would be over for the summer.

Outside, it was pouring rain. Raindrops pinged noisily against the tin rooftop of the dining hall, becoming a dull white noise in the background. It hadn’t really rained all summer.

It was weird to Dean that life was about to move on. In three weeks, his campers would be sitting in hot, stuffy classrooms, sharpening their brand new #2 ticonderogas and writing out their little name cards. He wondered what their lives would be like after camp. Would Garth make friends this year? Would Bela’s parents continue to ignore her? Would any of them stay friends? Would they remember him?

He still hadn’t told Cas about Bobby’s offer. He hadn’t told anyone. His kids were gone, and he was currently sitting at the staff table, happily munching away at tater tots and avoiding Bobby. He glanced at Sam from across the room, who caught his eye.

Winchester language, is a pretty complicated thing. Only Sam and Dean, and occasionally Bobby and John can truly speak it. Cas was learning, but he could only really speak a special Dean-dialect of Winchester. The brothers though, were fluent in a special silent form.

With a single raise of his eyebrows, Sam could ask Dean what was wrong. With a smirk and shrug, Dean could lie and say that he was fine. Sam could always see past that absolute bullshit with a roll of his eyes, and Dean could sigh and jerk his head towards the door in response. Fine, he’ll dish.

“Be right back dude,” Dean said to Cas who was in the middle of a rigorous debate with Charlie on whether or not Marty McFly and Doc Brown invented free will in _Back to the Future Part III_ , or if they just discover that they can utilize it. He kissed the top of his head, and Cas hmm’d in response, entirely focused on his opponent.

They stood under the covered area in front of the dining hall, and Sam crossed his arms expectantly. “Talk, dude,” he said. “You’ve been pouting for the last two days. Is it because Cas is leaving?”

“How’d you know about that?”

Sam shrugged. “How does anyone at Kripke know anything? Gossip.” He paused and looked at Dean carefully. “At first I thought that maybe you were bummed that Cas might not be working here next summer, but that’s not it, is it? There’s more, huh?”

Dean smiled down at his brother. Why was Sam so damn smart?

“Nah, it’s not just that.” He peered out into the grey campgrounds. Kripke looked so weird without the sunshine. It was almost betraying. “I uh, I got another deal from Bobby. For the school year.”

Sam froze. “What did he say?”

Dean shoved his hands in his pockets. “I already told him no. I just wanted a few days to muddle it around, y’know?”

“Dean. What did he say?”

“He wanted me to stay at Kripke during the school year. Said he’d let me stay here for free so long as I get an education at the community college down the road. Can you imagine that, me at college?” He let out a self-deprecating laugh.

His brother stared at him. “Dean, that’s great. I can’t believe we never thought of it before. That sounds so perfect for you.”

Dean waved Sam’s encouragement away. “Don’t get too excited, I told him no.”

“What the fuck? Why?” Sam’s hands flew to his own hips, looking comically like a vague memory of Mary Winchester.

“Don’t cuss, dude,” Dean mumbled.

“No, I can do what I want, I’m pissed. Why did you tell him no? Is it ‘cuz of Cas leaving to go find his dad? What did he have to say about it?”

Dean shrugged. “I uh, I haven’t told him yet.”

“What?! Dean, you have to tell him. At least talk about it with him. Maybe if you tell him that you’re staying, he won’t leave either,” Sam pleaded. “You guys could stay here together.”

“And what about you?” Dean demanded. “Huh, Sam? You’re just gonna go off and live wherever Dad dumps you for the month? How are you gonna pay for stuff? You can barely cook dude, you can’t fucking live on your own. And you sure as hell can’t stay here. You know where the nearest middle school is from Krikpe? Over thirty miles. Not happening, dude.”

“I could do online school!” Sam protested. “Or learn how to cook! Or, or something! Please, don’t just throw something you want away just for me.” He wiped at his face rapidly. His red eyes stared up at the rooftop, unblinking. It took Dean a moment, but he realized his brother was trying to stop himself from crying. It was the Dean Winchester specialty of preventing tears, and he had learned it from the best.

“You’re all I have,” Dean whispered.

That was it.

Sam blinked angrily, allowing big, fat tears to flow freely. “No I’m not! And Cas isn’t either! You have so much! You’re smart, and funny, and really really good with kids, Dean. I bet you want to go to school to be a teacher or something, right?” Dean nodded dumbly, but Sam didn’t give him time to answer. “So stay at Kripke like Bobby said. Go to school to become a teacher. Don’t worry about me.”

“Bobby said you could stay here?”

Dean whipped around to see Cas, standing in the doorway of the dining hall.

“Cas.”

“Is that true? You have the option to stay?” Cas looked betrayed.

“Yeah, and so do you,” Dean retorted. “We can’t always get what we want.”

“That’s so stupid!” Sam protested. He was crying still, sobbing unashamedly like a little kid. “Both of you! There’s no reason for either of you to go.”

“Why didn’t you tell me? You’re… you’re the person Bobby was going to rent the room in the cabin to,” Cas realized. “He wanted you to stay so that I would want to stay.”

“That’s not true,” Dean said, remembering his conversation with Bobby.

Cas crossed his arms. “I can’t believe this. Dean, you’re giving up something amazing.”

Yeah, he was.

Sam brushed past him angrily, back into the dining hall. Say what you wanted about the little giant, but he knew when to give to people their privacy. The rain began to pour even heavier, and Dean could barely hear Cas over the sound of it pelting off of the roof of the covered area.

“Why do you care? You’re leaving soon too, and then we’ll never see each other again.”

Cas scowled. “That was before I knew that you could stay.”

“Oh, and now you’re ready to stay too?”

Cas’s eyes fell, guiltily.

“Yeah, that’s what I thought,” Dean sneered. “Whether I stay or go, you’ll still be gone.”

Frustrated, Cas lurched forward and shoved Dean, forcing him out into the rain. Dean stumbled back, but caught his footing. Warm, thick droplets enveloped him. “Dean, I am doing this for you. All of this, because of you. You’re the one who gave me the courage to decide to leave. Before you came along, all I saw in my future was flipping hot dogs until I died. You were the first person to tell me that it’s okay to want other things. My own passions, my own pursuits, and my own dreams. I wouldn’t even acknowledge that I have those if I hadn’t met you. You’re right, I am using my father as an excuse. I want to see the world, and this is how I will do it. Now you’re turning around and ignoring your own, and it is _so_ frustrating.”

He took a step closer with each word until he was right next to Dean, the two of them standing in the rain. “Do you understand why I have to go? I _have to_ , Dean. If I don’t go now, I’ll never do it. I don’t want to be away from you. It hurts me to leave you like this, but _I have to_.”

“Yes,” Dean faltered, right before kissing him.

***

They decided to make the most of it. Cas started spending every moment of his day with Dean’s cabin, leaving the cooking duties solely to Meg, who planned on taking over after Cas left. He would occasionally leave to check in with her, but for the most part, left her alone. He called it “on the job training”, but everyone ignored the thinly veiled excuse to be with Dean.

“Next week, I’m gonna climb to the top, I just know it!” Kevin proclaimed as they walked back from the climbing wall. Kevin’s attempts to get to the top of Kripke’s 30 foot climbing wall were a weekly routine, and Dean felt for the kid. He really just wanted to reach the top of the wall, but he always managed to freeze up.

“You can’t, this is the last week, dude,” Ash said, sticking a piece of grass in his mouth. God, he was always doing that lately. Not only did the little eight-year old rock a tragic mullet and wear muscle shirts, but now he was plucking long blades of grass and chewing on them. He was like something straight out of the _Dukes of Hazzard_.

“What?!” Garth shrieked. “Ever?”

“Well, yeah,” Ben said. “It’s August, dude. School starts in a few weeks.”

Garth slipped his hands into Dean and Cas’s, and looked up at his counselor. “Is that true? No more Kripke?”

Dean squeezed his hand. “‘Fraid so. But don’t worry, you’re gonna have to much fun at school that you’re not even gonna notice.”

The little boy frowned. “I hate school.”  
Dean’s heart ached. He looked around at the rest of his kids, all wearing similar frowns to Garth’s, and what he imagined his own looked like.

“Guys,” he managed, “It’ll be alright.”

“Will you be here next year?” Victor asked suddenly.

“Yeah!” They boys chorused. They all looked at Dean expectantly.

He could feel Cas’s eyes burning on him. They had decided to not let each other’s decisions affect what they do and where they go at the end of the year, but they hadn’t talked about next year. Could they just pick up where they left off next June? Dean wasn’t sure.

“I’m not sure,” he said honestly. “I would like to. I love camp just as much as you guys.”

“What about you, Mr. Cas?” Kevin asked shyly.

“I would like to return one day, too. Maybe not next summer, but someday.”

Cas smiled at Dean over the top of Garth’s head.

***

Maybe it was immoral or unethical or whatever, but Cas started sneaking into Dean’s room at night. The first time it happened, Cas just waltzed in the cabin after light’s out and crawled into bed with Dean.

Assuming it was a camper with a nightmare (not saying names… _Ben_ ) he sat up and rubbed at his eyes. He had been halfway asleep, but he had also learned that you’re never fully asleep in a cabin full of little kids. “What’s up dude?”

“Dean.”

Dean snorted. “Cas? What the fuck?”

Cas peeled back the blankets and slipped inside next to Dean, pulling back down. “I missed you,” he said simply, as if he was explaining the weather outside. He pressed a warm kiss to the inside of Dean’s neck, and Dean shivered.

“Cas, not that I don’t love our usual makeout sessions, but there’s a bunch of eight-year olds outside that door.”

Castiel wrapped his arms around Dean’s waist, and nuzzled him. “I didn’t come here to seduce you,” he whispered.

“Yeah, and Ross and Rachel were on a break.”

“I don’t know what that means,” Cas mumbled.

“It’s from a TV show,” Dean offered weakly. “Nevermind. What are you doing here? One of my campers are going to walk in and be completely traumatized.”

“Not seducing you,” Cas emphasized, kissing his neck again. It was a soft kiss, comforting. Cas wasn’t lying, he didn’t have ulterior motives for being here.

The kids were asleep, but it still freaked Dean out enough that he made him promise to start knocking on his window and coming in when he let him in.

“That’s fine,” Cas agreed, sitting up and grabbing Dean’s phone from his nightstand. He fiddled with it for a moment before setting it back, and diving back down to scoop up as much Dean as he could. They guy was a freaking octopus. “I am setting an alarm so I leave before your campers wake up,” he explained. “I’ll go back up to my cabin and change, and meet you down at breakfast. No one will be the wiser.”

Cas just wanted to spend as much time with him as possible. Dean could relate. He carded his fingers through Cas’s hair as he snoozed off, and Dean’s stomach knotted when he thought about how he long it might be before he’ll see Cas again after this summer.

So they slept. That’s all they did, every night.

***

“Where’re we gonna go next week?” Sam asked one day during cabin time. It was warm, and everything seemed to move more slowly, so Dean and Gabe had decided to drag their kids to a small creek near Cas’s cabin, and ordered them to splash around. Dean and the Novaks found a fallen tree to lean up against, rolled up their jeans, and dipped their feet in the creek. Sam had stomped over to them gleefully, sprinkling cold water on their clothes.

“What do you mean? Back to dad, dude. Wherever he tells us to go.”

Sam frowned. “You really aren’t staying?”

Dean shook his head. “I’m really not staying.”

“Much to our chagrin,” Gabriel chimed in.

“That’s not even the right way to use that word,” Dean rolled his eyes.

“See Ms. Frizzle? Exactly why you should be a teacher. Nobody ever taught me the right way to say ‘chagrin’, and now I’m stuck working at a summer camp.” Gabriel shrugged.

Cas smirked. “That is such a lie, Gabriel. You could’ve done anything with your life, but you decided to stay at Kripke because you love it so much.”

“Really?” Sam asked.

Dean hadn’t ever thought about Gabriel, but it was a good point. Michael and Lucifer had packed it up and left, but Gabe and Cas stayed behind. Dean knew why Castiel was there, but he hadn’t ever thought about Gabriel, who was in his late twenties and still working a minimum wage job at a summer camp.

Gabriel grinned. “Aw, you caught me, Kripke is my life. In fact, you’re speaking to the new owner, young man.”

Sam raised his eyebrows. “You? What about Bobby?”

“Bobby doesn’t own the camp, dude. They do,” Dean said, jerking his head to the brothers.

Castiel nodded. “And since I am leaving, I’m giving Gabriel sole ownership of the property. After next week, I’ll no longer be an employee of Kripke.”

Dean’s mouth hung open. He hadn’t known about that. In fact, he hadn’t even thought about what Cas would do with his half of the camp.

“What about you two crazy kids?” Gabe asked. “Gonna try the long distance thing?”

Cas shrugged. "We'll see."

***

He lifted up the window, and extended his hand to let Cas in. “I feel like Rapunzel,” he joked.

Cas frowned. “You do need a haircut soon,” he said. “Ask Missouri. She’s been cutting mine for years.”

Suddenly, Dean was struck with the same feeling in his stomach that he felt while playing _In The Summertime_ all those weeks ago. Warmth and love. That’s what it was. God, he really did love this guy. Dean opened his mouth to explain that that’s not why he felt like Rapunzel, but then said, “Damn, you really never do leave camp.”

In lieu of answering, he slipped off his shoes and crawled into Dean’s bed. Honestly, it wasn’t big enough for the two of them to really fit in it comfortably. It was okay though, because Dean loved him.

When he realized that he was in love with Cas on the Fourth of July, he had shoved it away to think about later. Now, there wasn’t any time left, and Cas was slipping through his fingers.

“Goddamn, where did the time go?” He sat down on the bed next to Cas. The kids went home in two days. “The beginning of this summer felt like forever, and now everything’s happening so fast.”

Cas pulled Dean down on top of him, and kissed him.

***

Dean took a bite of his lunch, and stared down at the stack of certificates, Dean sighed. “This is impossible.”

Jo glanced at Dean in between bites of macaroni. “Dude, it’s easy. Just makes sure each kid gets one.”

“How are you still doing these? I got mine done during cabin time like a week ago,” Charlie added. “Don’t think of it as ‘everyone gets one’, that’ll make it harder to think of things. Just think of each of their individual attributes.”

Dean stuck the pen in his mouth and nibbled on it. Seriously, why was this so hard? All he had to do was come up with some cheesy award for each of his campers for the end of the year award ceremony….which was in two days. The parents would come meet up with them at the stage, and all the counselors would stand up and present little certificates to each camper, and make them all feel special.

Somehow, he was having a hard time coming up with just one.

“What did you guys do?”

Gabriel rolled his eyes, and started digging through his backpack. “Here, kid.” He smacked the awards down in front of Dean.

The one on top was awarded to Sam Winchester: _Most Likely to Stink Up a Cabin._

Dean snorted, and held it up for the other staffers to see. “That’s for damn sure.”

“God, I mean, we’re all eating the same thing, so I’m not sure why he always farts like he’s getting paid for it,” Gabriel said.

“Yeah, I bet burrito night is everyone’s favorite in your cabin.”

Gabe gagged. “Castiel, does this Winchester fart everywhere too?”

Cas suppressed a grin. “I have no idea.”

“Liar! I bet he’s disgusting. It’s probably a family trait.”

Dean rolled his eyes, and flipped through the other awards.

_Meta Tron: Most Likely To Win a Pulitzer Prize_

_Alphie Samandriel: Most Likely To Eat a Whole Hotdog Stand_

_Raphael Tobit: Best Evil Villain_

“Dude, none of these make sense,” Dean said, frowning.

“They don’t have to,” Gabriel said, snatching them back. “Most of those are inside jokes or things we experienced together.”

“The point is to bring up happy memories with the campers, so they don’t leave camp all teary-eyed and sad,” Benny said. “Here-for Victor? Put Best Swimmer. Kid could barely doggie paddle when he came in here, and now he’s swimming circles around me.”

Dean nodded, and scribbled that down on Victor’s award. He remembered the first day they had gone swimming in the lake, how nervous Victor had been. He kept offering to sit on the dock and watch their towels. Now, he always hopped from one foot to the other when they walked down to swim time, pushing everyone to move faster so he could get in the lake.

In fact, most of his kids had made vast improvements over the summer.

“Don’t think about it too hard,” Gabriel advised. “They’ll love anything that you award them, because it’ll come from you.”

***

God, packing was the fucking worst. Well, it was the worst for other people. Despite having what Cas claimed as “a cluttered living space”, he really didn’t have that much stuff. Most of his crap was rolled up and shoved in two duffel bags.  
It was his campers’ stuff that was a problem.

Dean enlisted Cas to help him help the campers, and even with two adults, it was a mess. Kevin was crying that he couldn’t find his favorite shirt, and that he was going to get in trouble for it. Andy and Ash were arguing over who owned the Batman toothbrush (Dean tried not to gag too much over the implications of this. Did that mean that neither of them brushed all summer, or that they both used the same toothbrush?) Oh, and none of them knew how to zip up a fucking sleeping bag.

The schedule had allotted them about forty-five minutes to pack up the entire cabin, which Dean thought was possible until he realized that he has a bunch of eight-year olds who don’t even know when to change their underwear if they’re not told to. Dean looked around at the mess surrounding him and Cas, and sighed.

God fucking dammit.

Their parents were coming in two hours.

***

Dean stared down at his clipboard. Six signatures, all legally stating that his campers were no longer in his care. He was a free man. So why did he feel so sick?

Despite being checked out to their parents, all six of his kids were sitting with Dean. They piled around him, all trying to force their way into Dean’s space.

(“I wanna sit in Dean’s lap!”

“No dude, I want to!”

“Uh, none of you are sitting in my lap, you little creeps.”)

The parents all stood around in the background, politely watching as all the other counselor’s gave their awards out to their kids. When it was time for Dean to give his, he nervously shuffled onto stage. His awards weren’t funny or clever like Gabriel’s, and he hoped that that would be okay. He’d worked here for two and a half months, and he still felt like the new guy sometimes.

“Hey everybody! My name’s Dean, and I’m the counselor for Cabin Terra,” he said, waving at the crowd. The boys cheered and stomped their feet at the mention of their cabin. “God, you’re a bunch of animals.” He turned towards the parents. “Your kids are savages.” The parents laughed. “But uh, they’re good kids,” he huffed. Fuck, he was getting emotional.

He delivered the awards, some of them serious ( _Best Friend to All: Garth Fitzgerald_ ) and some were definitely just silly ( _Most Likely To Be a Rock Star: Ben Braeden_ ).

Surprisingly, his campers all received their awards as if they were being awarded the fuckin’ Nobel Prize. Kevin looked absolutely shocked when he received _Most Likely to Go to Harvard_ , and thanked him about eleven times when he scrambled on stage and retrieved the little scrap of paper from Dean. They… they really cared about what Dean thought of them.

He sat back down with his kids, all of them holding their awards proudly, and sitting in a pile next to Dean. Victor tugged at Dean’s t-shirt.

“What’s up dude?” Dean whispered.

“I’m gonna miss you,” he confessed.

Huh. Even Victor cared about him.

After the awards ceremony, the parents were to help their kids load their junk into their cars. Technically, they were under their parent’s supervision now, not Dean’s, but he followed them back to the cabin anyway. Some of the parents were impatient, obviously having plans to go somewhere else after they left Kripke, maybe to dinner with the family or something. But he didn’t care, this was the last time he’d ever see these kids, possibly ever.

He gathered them all outside the cabin. “Alright guys, I guess this is it.”

Instantly, Garth burst into tears. “That’s not fair!”

Ben reached over and patted his back sympathetically. “It’s okay dude, Dean’ll be here next year.” He looked up at Dean for confirmation.

Dean didn’t understand why he was asking this, they had already had this conversation before. They knew that he wasn’t sure. But the boys of Cabin Terra looked up at him pleadingly, and he knew that he didn’t ever really have any other choice.

“‘Course I will be. What, do you think I’d leave Gabe to run things by himself?” Somehow, he knew that he wasn’t lying. He couldn’t see himself anywhere else next summer but at Kripke, with or without Cas. The dingy little camp had wormed its way inside his heart, and somehow became home to him.

He knelt down so that he could look his boys in the eye, and they all gathered around him, as if he was about to reveal top-secret knowledge. “‘Kay, remember what I taught you?”

“Zeppelin rules!” They chorused. Dean grinned. Good boys.  
***

That night, he finished packing up his stuff, and took one last look at his cabin. The posters were rolled up, and the bunks were bare. Tomorrow, he would spend the day cleaning the cabin from head to toe, before the end of the year party.

Tonight, however, he couldn’t see himself sleeping in Cabin Terra alone, so he dumped all of his stuff in his Baby, and gave her an affectionate pat on the butt. Sighing, he trekked into the woods

“Dean?” Cas asked, opening the door to his cabin.

“Hey, Cas.”

Cas opened the door more. “I was just going to drive down and find you.” He pushed past Cas, and headed straight for the bedroom, clawing off his shirt. Cas followed, tilting his head. “Dean, are you sure?”

Dean held up his hands. He wanted to do this, and he wanted to do it now. There wasn’t really any way to make it clearer.

“Now or never, Cas.”

He sat on the bed and started untying his shoe laces. Cas stood in the doorway, arms crossed.

“I don’t want this to feel like a goodbye.”

Dean stood and crossed the room to him. He grabbed his shoulders, and looked him square in the eye. “Then don’t let it be,” he said, before kissing him.

Having sex with Cas was pretty much just about as awesome as he imagined it would be. He had done a little bit of research on how it would go down (if John hadn’t caught them, he thinks that eventually he and Aaron would have gotten to that point) but he still felt nervous and unsure. Cas guided him through the motions, showing him how to open him up and get him ready.

“You’ve never done this before,” Cas murmured, when Dean started to turn himself over. “You should be the top. If this really isn’t goodbye, then there will time for you to do the same.” He pressed a kiss to Dean’s sternum, before reaching behind himself and pressing up inside.

Dean watched in awe as Cas fingered himself, and it wasn’t until Cas peaked open an eye and pulled at Dean’s wrist in invitation that he realized, holy shit, he was going to be inside Cas. Eventually Cas’s fingers were replaced solely by Dean’s, and he moaned quietly around him.

“Okay, I’m ready,” Cas announced.

“What? Really?”

Cas smirked at him. “Are you?”

Dean snorted. “Shut up. Where’d the lube go?”

Pressing himself into Cas was a whole other fucking experience. They both gasped as Dean slowly sank into him, until his dick was completely engulfed by Cas. It was so tight, Jesus H. Christ. Chest to chest, Dean dropped his face into Cas’s neck.

“Dean? Are you going to move?” Cas grunted out.

Experimentally, Dean thrusted, and Cas threw his head back and moaned. Dean kissed his neck, and thrusted into him again.

“Shit, Dean,” Cas gasped. “Just-go!”

Well damn, he didn’t need to be told twice.

He didn’t last as long as he would’ve like to admit, but to be fair, neither did Cas.

They laid together for a long time afterwards, breathing in each other. Cas winced slightly when Dean pulled out, and Dean kissed him in apology. “Sorry, dude. Are you okay?”

Cas closed his eyes smiled blissfully. “I haven’t done that in a really long time. I’m glad that it was with you.”

Dean exhaled. “Good.” He looked over Cas carefully. “But you’re… you’re okay?”

Cas opened one eye at looked up at him. “Are you?”

He flopped back down on the bed. “Eh. Covered in jizz, but other than that, I’m cool.” He glanced at Cas wearily.

Cas cackled, and swung himself out of the bed. He wandered around his mostly packed up room, before finally producing a package of baby wipes. When Dean raised an eyebrow at the randomity of the wipes, Cas shrugged. “I don’t like being sticky.”

Instead of tossing the wipes at Dean, and knelt over the stretched out man on his bed, and cleaned him off lovingly. Dean hissed at the cold wipes, and Cas murmured an apology.

Cas rolled back into bed with Dean, and the two instantly pulled towards each other.  
Dean burrowed into Cas’s side, pressing his face in between Cas’s arm and the mattress.

“What time do you leave tomorrow?” Cas asked

His heart clenched. He didn’t want to think about it. He couldn’t. Unfortunately, he didn’t have much of a choice. “Four. We’re leaving before the party.”

“That’s so soon,” Cas said, suddenly void of any emotion.

“You know, it’s okay to acknowledge that you’re going to miss me.”

Cas twisted awkwardly in order to kiss the top of his head. “Of course I will. More than you know. But what else can we do?”

***

_I’m on the highway to hell…_

Cas nudged Dean.

“Mmph,” Dean grunted back. Why was Cas trying to wake him?

“Dean. Answer your phone.”

With an extra jab from Cas, Dean rolled out of bed and stumbled around for his phone, which was somewhere in a pile with his clothes. Eventually, he found it, and unlocked it before checking to see who it was. He collapsed back into the bed with Cas.

“Hey.”

“Dean Winchester, where the hell are you?”

Dean sat up. “Bobby?”

“No, it’s my Aunt Sally. Where are you? Your daddy’s here, and I when I went looking for you, your cabin was empty but your car’s here. Where’d you run off to?”

Shit, his dad was here. He glanced down at Cas, who had rolled over and was snoring softly. “I uh, I’m at Cas’s. We were just saying goodbye.”

“Ah hell, boy,” Bobby said, his voice much more gentler now. “I’m sorry kid, I didn’t think. ‘Course you’re over there. Take as much time as you need. But uh, your old man’s here now.”

Dean sighed, and pressed the heel of his hand into this eye. Why the hell was his dad here? John had said that he would text Dean coordinates when he wanted to meet up with them again. Did he need help on a case right away?

Dean looked down at Cas, who was already fast asleep again. Sure, on mornings when he needs to hightail it out of Dean’s cabin before the kids wake up, he’s up and at ‘em, but on days like these, when waking up meant facing a goodbye, he was dead to the world. He leaned over and shook his shoulder. “Cas.”

Cas opened his eyes and smiled softly at Dean. “Hello Dean.”

God, Dean loved him so much it hurt.

“I’m going down to Bobby’s office. My dad’s here.”

Cas frowned. “You’re not leaving yet.” It wasn’t a question, it was a command.

“I might have to. I’m not sure. If I am, I’ll come back to say goodbye to you. Then I’ll… I’ll call you tonight,” he promised. Come hell or high water, he wasn’t going to give up on them just because the summer was over. He couldn’t.

“Okay,” Cas said, but he didn’t look convinced. “Thank you.”

Dean wasn’t sure what he was thanking him for, but he kissed him. “No problem.”

He dressed quickly in the clothes from the night before, and jogged to Bobby’s office. A cursory glance in the window of the dining hall told him that oh yeah, he was definitely working the sex hair and rumpled clothes. There was no way his dad wouldn’t know exactly where he was the night before. Well, he already thought him and Cas were banging.

He blew out a shaky breath, and knocked on Bobby’s office door.

“Dean? Come in!” Bobby called out.

Dean pushed over the door, to see a strange sight: his father laughing.

John and Bobby were standing in the office, holding whisky and laughing like they were standing at an office water cooler. Dean gaped.

“Dean, come here,” Bobby coaxed, waving him in.

Dean obediently followed, glancing at his father apprehensively.

“Dean, I’ve uh, I’ve done some thinking,” John said.

“Why don’t you sit down,” Bobby said, nodding at the chair. Dean sat.

John looked at his son sternly. “Here’s the thing….”

***

With Sam and his stuff packed in the car, their cabins spotless, and their goodbyes said to all, Dean drove the Impala up to the cabin in the woods, to make the most important goodbye.

True, he had teared up a little bit hugging Jo and Charlie and Benny (but if anyone asked, he’d tell them that they’re lying pieces of shits) and promised that he’d text them and add them on various social media sites, but a rock formed in his stomach as he climbed the steps to his cabin.

He had left a huffy Sam sitting in the front seat, annoyed at Dean for choosing to leave. His eyes met with Cas’s as his foot touched the top step. Dean grinned. Cas had been sitting on the swing, waiting for him.

“Told you I was coming back,” he joked. “You didn’t think I would show.”

Cas smiled sheepishly. “I wasn’t even sure if your goodbye this morning was a dream or not, but I decided to wait just in case.” He held up a sketchbook. “I drew this for you.”

He scooted to make room for Dean to sit, and patted the seat. Dean sat, and Cas tilted the sketchbook for him to see.

Dean’s breath caught. There, on the paper, was him and Sam.

Sometime in the last few weeks, Cas must’ve spied the two of them together, and sketched out a quick drawing of them. It was messy and quick, but it was clearly them. Dean’s head was thrown back, laughing as Sam giggled beside him. It was the perfect moment, but Dean had no idea when it had been done. It could have been any moment when Sam was making Dean laugh, and it would have been accurate.

“Cas…” he breathed. “This is so fucking awesome.”

“I want you to have it,” he said shyly. “So you’d remember me.”

“I don’t need it,” he said instantly.

Cas looked up sharply, and Dean realized how that could have been interpreted. He shook his head. “No wait, that’s not what I meant. I just meant that like, I don’t need something to remember you by, because I’m sure as hell not going to forget you.”

“Take it anyway,” Cas said quietly. It seemed important to him, so Dean accepted the piece of paper after it was torn out of the book.

They sat for a minute, silently.

“Sam’s in the car waiting,” Dean said. He didn’t want to go. He wasn’t ready to leave Cas, or his new home.

“Dean, can I tell you something?”

Dean looked over at Cas. “I love you.”

Cas blinked. “That’s what I was going to say.”

He grinned. “I know. But I wanted to say it first, so that you knew I really meant it.”

Cas’s hand slipped into his. “Don’t fall in love with a pretty college girl.”

“Don’t fall in love with a handsome trucker.”

Cas chuckled. “Deal.”

Dean stood. “I should go.”

Cas stood with him. “Yes, probably. If you want to make it there before dark.” Cas didn’t ask where "where" was, and Dean figured that he didn’t need to. What did it matter? They’d be somewhere else before long. Dean leaned in and kissed the side of Cas’s cheek.

“I’ll be back next summer,” he promised.

Cas didn’t promise the same thing.

He turned, and walked to his car.

Castiel Novak stood and watched as Dean Winchester climbed in his 1967 Chevy Impala, turned on the engine, and drove away.

From where he stood, he could see the long black car twisting down the road leading back to the camp. If he squinted, he could see the sleek black rushing past the green, all the way down to the entrance.

He watched this, and then he watched as the car stop, let Sam out, and then turn back around.

The Impala rushed back through the trees, whipping the leaves aside as it vroomed back up the trail.

Cas jumped down the steps of his cabin, meeting Dean as he threw open the door of his car.

“Dean? What-”

“Come with me!” Dean blurted.

Cas tilted his head. “With you? Where? Where are you going?”

Dean grinned wide, and held out his hands. “Anywhere you want to go. Wanna go look for your old man? Awesome, let’s do it.”

He blinked. “What about college?”

Dean shrugged. “Eh, it could wait a while. Come on, let’s go track down your dad, and then come back in time to enroll in school. Take a quarter or two off before settling down here with some books. I know that the community college down the road has art program,” he added.

He presented the idea with false bravado, but on the inside, he was a nervous wreck. Here he was, bearing out his soul to Cas, and suggesting that they essentially move in together. Make some sort of permanence to their relationship. Would Cas even go for it? Did he even want to?

“But… Sam…”

“Bobby said he could stay here. He and my dad told me this morning that Sam can stay at Kripke for as long as he wants, and I can do whatever I want. College, road trip, whatever. I wasn’t going to until right now.”

Cas narrowed his eyes and crossed his arms. “Why?”

Dean looked exasperated. “Because I love you. I fuckin’ love you, and I want to help you find your dad. Let’s do it, let’s find your deadbeat dad, make him feel like shit for abandoning you, and have lots of wild hotel sex along the way.”

Cas tried to suppress a smile. “And what if I don’t want you to come along with?”

Dean frowned. He hadn’t thought of that. “Then… then I’ll stay here and go to school. Get my AA while I wait for you to come back.”

“And if I never come back?”

He shrugged. “Then I’ll be a heartbroken teacher.”

He was telling the truth. He wanted to be with Cas, but he just realized-he still wanted to be a teacher and live at Kripke while he got his degree. He wanted things for himself outside of Cas, but that didn’t mean he wanted them without him.

Cas grinned, gums, teeth, and all.

“Well, I can’t let that happen.”

Without another word, he turned around and marched into his cabin. Dean stood, dumbfounded. Before he could decide if he should go after him, or just leave, tail between his legs, Cas reemerged from the cabin, two duffel bags in his arms.

He moved to the other side of the car, and slid inside.

Dean laughed, and got back inside the car. He turned on the engine, and the roar of Baby promised a new adventure. They sped down the trail, paused long enough to wave at Sam, who was standing with Bobby and John, and then they were off camp property.

Cas looked so natural in the passenger seat, it was like he belonged there. The early afternoon sun shone through the windows, forming the perfect background to Cas’s grin. Dean couldn’t believe his luck. Just the two of them, across the country.

“So, where to?”

“Everywhere.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I intended for this fic to be exactly ten chapters, but just like summertime, the ending came quicker than I anticipated. My apologies. Some timestamps will be written for this 'verse eventually, such as how Bobby convinced John to get Dean to go, what happens if/when they find Cas's father, and the epic summer romance of Sam and Jess, but I have no set schedule for doing those. Other than my minibang, I really have no upcoming projects, but that's always subject to change too. 
> 
> Thank you so much for all your comments, kudos, and love! This fic has become my favorite thing to write, and I'm happy that people were along for the ride~!
> 
> khoshekhcarlos.tumblr.com (personal blog)  
> helladestiel.tumblr.com (if you want to send prompts/look at cute fanart i reblog)


End file.
